Game-changing “test to treat” program rolled out across India, allowing patients to receive COVID-19 antiviral Qifenda 400MG after a positive diagnosis

UNITED STATES, April 26, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Cellvera, a US commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing antiviral therapies across a broad spectrum of infectious diseases. Lifenity International (“Lifenity”), India’s largest healthcare PSU, preventive diagnostic services provided at Government Medical Centers, today jointly announces a partnership to roll out a one-stop “test to treat” service for COVID-19 patients in 2,700 sites across India. Lifenity was selected as a partner by Cellvera due to its experience in delivering diagnostic services to more than 30,000,000 patients and its ever-expanding global footprint. Lifenity recently expanded to the UAE and other parts of Africa as part of an international growth strategy.

Therapeutics are needed to treat patients outside of hospital settings to help prevent unnecessary admissions to hospitals, therefore easing the pressure on all health care services. Favipiravir is at an advanced stage of COVID-19 treatments available globally. More than 70% of patients who received Favipiravir for mild to moderate symptoms achieved clinical improvement and remission on day 7 . More than 5 million patients worldwide have been administered Favipiravir since the pandemic, which puts the drug at the front line in the fight against COVID-19 and future pandemic preparedness.

QIFENDA 400mg (Favipiravir) is a selective inhibitor of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) with potent antiviral activity against single-stranded RNA viruses, including coronaviruses. This is the protein responsible for “building” the viral proteins. QIFENDA can target the protein necessary for the coronavirus to replicate, creating mutations that make it impossible for the virus to copy itself.

The Cellvera and Lifenity clinical teams combined expertise in COVID-19 testing and treatment to create a frictionless patient pathway ensuring the best possible patient outcomes by identifying positive cases of the virus and allowing the patient to initiate treatment immediately. Upon testing positive for COVID-19 at a Lifenity diagnostic center, the patient will be offered a remote consultation with a specially trained doctor. After completing the telehealth consultation, when appropriate, a prescription will be sent within minutes, enabling the patient to start their course of treatment. Treating people quickly and equitably will help lessen the role of the virus in society. In addition to prescribing, clinicians will provide vital COVID-19 care and advice, essential to prevent further spread of the virus will explain guidelines for isolation and quarantine.

Dr. Richard Kaszynski, Chief Medical Officer at Cellvera, said: “Our mission has always been to ensure as many people have access to this life-saving treatment. When patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, we've already lost half the battle. The launch of test-to-treat with Lifenity provides patients convenient access to a physician and to Qifenda when tested positive; on-site treatment will vastly improve patient outcomes, especially as these treatments need to be administered as soon as possible after receiving a positive PCR test and symptom onset. As an emergency care physician with extensive experience using favipiravir, I have witnessed first-hand the immense potential the drug represents under appropriate administration and am confident that it will become a potent addition to our existing armamentarium in the fight against COVID-19. The increasing number of patients being administered Qifenda puts us on the front line in the fight against COVID-19 and future pandemic preparedness. This initiative with Lifenity has huge potential to save lives, and we look forward to expanding quickly beyond the Indian market, given the global demand. Plans for the UAE, Mexico, and the UK will follow in quick succession and are already underway.”

“We have listened to the market and understand the great need for robust COVID-19 solutions, including diagnostics and treatment solutions. This end-to-end care model is uniquely poised to meet the demand,” said Sarang Landge, Director, Lifenity. “Partnering with Cellvera to offer this proven treatment option throughout our 2700 sites ensures maximum reach and scale. We have provided services to more than 30,000,000 patients to date, demonstrating our experience in reaching critical mass; we believe this test-to-treat solution has the potential for a wide-scale impact on patients and communities. Our USP has always collaborated and built synergistic alliances with leading governmental and private organizations to generate value-added services for patients. We are thrilled to join forces with Cellvera given the tremendous need for COVID-19 solutions; we believe this initiative will create a lasting impact.”

ABOUT FAVIPIRAVIR
Favipiravir, discovered and developed by FUJIFILM, was first approved under the brand name Avigan^® by regulators in Japan in 2014 as a potent broad-spectrum antiviral treatment for influenza. This antiviral drug is effective against 12 families of viruses, including coronaviruses (COVID, MERS, SARS), Filoviruses (EBOLA, MARBURG), Flaviviruses (ZIKA, WEST NILE, DENGUE), RABIES, NOROVIRUS, and many others. Favipiravir works by inhibiting a viral enzyme called RNA polymerase, preventing viral replication within human cells. Favipiravir has potent antiviral activity against single-stranded RNA viruses, including coronaviruses. This is the protein responsible for “building” the viral proteins. Favipiravir can target the protein necessary for the coronavirus to replicate, making it impossible for the virus to copy itself.

About Cellvera:
Cellvera is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing oral therapies and monitoring tools to address the unmet medical needs of patients with life-threatening viral diseases.

Leveraging the Company’s deep understanding of antiviral drug development, nucleotide chemistry, biology, biochemistry and virology, Cellvera has built a nucleotide prodrug platform to develop novel product candidates to treat single stranded ribonucleic acid, or ssRNA, viruses, which are a prevalent cause of severe viral diseases.
Currently, Cellvera is focused on the clinical and commercial development of orally available, potent, and selective nucleotide prodrugs for difficult-to-treat, life-threatening viral infections, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, dengue virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Driven to Discover. Cellvera’s team includes PhDs in computational biology, biochemistry, and chemistry, as well as senior software engineers.

About Global Response Aid (GRA)
Agility (KSE/DFM: AGLTY), one of the world’s leading logistics companies and CELLVERA, an innovative pharma research, development and commercialization company based in Dubai, established Global Response Aid (GRA) to address the market challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and other threats to public health. GRA delivers innovative, effective healthcare solutions through a range of pharmaceutical products and technology platforms. It works closely with governments, regulatory authorities, hospitals, clinics, healthcare providers, life sciences companies, NGOs and public institutions to develop strategies that allow them to tackle public health challenges.

For more information: www.globalresponseaid.com

About FUJIFILM
FUJIFILM Corporation, Tokyo, Japan is one of the major operating companies of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation. The company brings cutting edge solutions to a broad range of global industries by leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies developed in its relentless pursuit of innovation. Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the various fields including healthcare, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document products.

These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies. For the year ended March 31, 2020, the company had global revenues of $21 billion, at an exchange rate of 109 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship.

For more information holdings.fujifilm.com

mary o brien
Cellvera
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