Glenmark shares fall as India’s drug regulator sends notice on overpricing and false claims

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd was given a notice by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on overpricing and false claims of its generic version of favipiravir, FabiFlu, according to local media reports, sending the company’s shares down as much as 5.8% on Monday.

The drug regulator said that “the cost proposed by Glenmark (for FabiFlu) is definitely not in the interest of the poor, lower middle class and middle class people of India”, in the letter to the newspaper Mint on Sunday.

Glenmark and the DCGI were not immediately available to respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The Mumbai-based company reduced the price of FabiFlu to ₹75 ($1.00) per tablet last week for restricted emergency use in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms in India.

The DCGI also questioned Glenmark’s claims of FabiFlu’s effectiveness in co-morbid conditions like hypertension and diabetes, Mint said.