Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Shares of Bengaluru-based Biocon gained almost 7 per cent intraday on July 14 after the company said it will launch biologic drug Itolizumab for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19 patients on the basis of its clinical trials done on 30 patients across four centres. The price band will be around Rs 8,000 per vial. Itolizumab is the first novel biologic therapy to be approved anywhere in the world for treating patients with moderate to severe Covid-19 complications and has been used since 2013 for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis under the brand name Alzumab, the health ministry said. The company has received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to market Itolizumab injection 25mg/5mL solution for emergency use in India for treating patients with cytokine storm.Itolizumab will be manufactured and formulated as an intravenous injection at Biocon’s bio-manufacturing facility at Biocon Park, Bengaluru.
