Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has started phase two clinical trial on AQCH, a phytopharmaceutical (plant-derived) drug for the treatment of COVID-19.
The company got approval from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for conducting phase two clinical trial in April. The clinical trial will be conducted across 12 centres in India on 210 patients with a duration of 10 days.
The results of the clinical trial are expected by October. Human safety study of AQCH has already been completed and the drug has been found safe at the recommended dose for phase two study.
Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi said it is the first phytopharmaceutical drug approved for clinical trials by the DCGI as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
“AQCH has shown anti-SARS-CoV-2 effects in in-vitro studies conducted in collaboration with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in Italy. These results combined with information on the mechanism of action through in-vitro and small animal studies give us the confidence to evaluate this potential treatment option for COVID-19 patients,” he said in a statement on Friday.
AQCH, which is being developed for dengue, has shown a broad antiviral effect in vitro studies and hence is being tested as a potential treatment option for COVID-19. Since 2016, Sun Pharma has been working closely with DBT-ICGEB under the leadership of Dr Navin Khanna and CSIR-IIIM under the leadership of Dr Ram Vishwakarma to develop a phytopharmaceutical drug for dengue.
The work on the evaluation of plant-derived drugs for the treatment of dengue started in 2007 under the auspices of the Department of Biotechnology’s (DBT) Task Force on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.
