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Dr. Reddy's Inks Deal With Two Companies for Coronavirus Drug

Dr. Reddy’s RDY has partnered with a Japanese pharma giant, FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical (FUJIFILM), and Global Response Aid (GRA) for the development, manufacture and sale of antiviral drug Avigan (favipiravir) tablets for the potential treatment of COVID-19.

The agreement grants Dr. Reddy’s exclusive rights for India and both Dr Reddy’s and GRA the rights to develop, sell and distribute Avigan in all countries other than Japan, China and Russia.Dr. Reddy’s would have exclusive rights for the development, saleand distribution of Avigan in India. Further, FUJIFILM would receive an upfront license fee and royalties on sales from Dr. Reddy’s and GRA.

FUJIFILM will provide the data that it has accumulated fromAvigan’s preclinical and clinical studies to Dr. Reddy’s and GRA. The data will then be used by the two companies for studies onCOVID-19 where infection has been spreading significantly. Dr. Reddy’s will also obtain rights from FUJIFILMto use Avigan’s patents of formulation and manufacturing method. Dr. Reddy’s will establish a setup for manufacturing drugs of the same quality as Avigan. Further, the company will utilize GRA’s global sales network to supply manufactured drugs swiftly and in a stable manner.

Currently, FUJIFILM Group is conducting a study on Avigan targeting COVID-19 patients in Japan and the United States and working to increase the drug’s production by partnering with domestic and overseas companies.

We note that Avigan Tablet was developed by FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical and is marketed as an influenza antiviral drug.

Shares of Dr. Reddy’s have soared 2.8% year to date against the industry’s 7.7% decline.

Meanwhile, several marketed drugs like Sanofi SNY/Regeneron’s IL-6 inhibitor,Kevzara; Roche’s RHHBY IL-6 inhibitor, Actemra; Incyte/Novartis’ JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor, Jakafi; AstraZeneca’s AZN BTK inhibitor, Calquence; and Amgen’s PDE4 inhibitor, Otezla,  among others, are being evaluated to treat respiratory complications associated with COVID-19, which is the need of the hour.

Zacks Rank

Dr. Reddy’s currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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