Zydus Cadila gets USFDA nod to market generic antiviral ointment

Drug firm Zydus Cadila Tuesday said it has received final nod from the US health regulator to market antiviral Acyclovir ointment in the American market.

The company has received the final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market generic Acyclovir ointment USP 5 per cent, Zydus Cadila said in a filing to the BSE.

The product will be manufactured at the group's topical manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad, it added.

The ointment is a generic version of Zovirax ointment in the same strength, Zydus Cadila said.

Acyclovir is an antiviral drug which stops the growth of certain viruses. It is used to treat the first outbreak of genital herpes infection and to treat non-life threatening herpes infections of the skin and around the mouth in people with a weakened immune system, it added.

The group now has 257 approvals and has so far filed over 350 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) since the commencement of its filing process, Zydus Cadila said.

Shares of Cadila Healthcare, the listed entity of the group, were trading at Rs 340.65 per scrip on the BSE, up 0.41 per cent from its previous close.