Strides Pharma was in the green yesterday on media reports that it has received approval to conduct clinical trials of antiviral drug Favipiravir, a potential drug for Covid19 cure.

Today morning, the company clarified that at the earnings call, it had very clearly stated that it has got the approval from the Indian Drug Authorities for conducting human studies. The company said, “we would like to clarify that our approval is for carrying out bio-equivalence study to the innovator product (Avigan). We will keep the stock exchanges and other stakeholders informed on any further developments on this.”

The drug is a generic version of Japan-based Toyama Chemical’s Avigan and was initially developed to treat influenza in Japan. It has shown positive outcomes in several studies on COVID-19 patients.

The company yesterday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 206 crore from Q4FY20 v/s net profit of Rs 45 crore (YoY).

The stock price is today in the red. It had closed yesterday at Rs.421.30 and today it opened lower at Rs.425 and going down to an intraday low at Rs.416.