Mint Lite | New covid-19 drug gets DGCI nod, oil prices hike, other news to know
Prices of petrol and diesel rose for the 15th consecutive day on Sunday. After 82 days of keeping prices stable during the lockdown, oil marketing companies began raising rates on 7 June. Petrol prices are now at a two-year high with the cumulative increase crossing ₹8.8 on Sunday. Diesel prices have risen ₹7.9 in 15 days. To catch up on the rest of the news in five minutes before you start your day, here’s Mint Lite.
A new medicine to treat covid-19 patients is in the market after the Drugs Controller of India granted approval to Glenmark Pharmaceuticals for favipiravir, an antiviral drug. It’s a prescription drug, and is priced at ₹103 a tablet. Doctors say the drug is “promising”, though—as with all coronavirus medication—there isn’t substantial evidence on its efficacy yet. Glenmark said favipiravir has shown clinical improvement of up to 88% in mild to moderate covid-19 cases by reducing the viral load in four days. In China, researchers have started a second phase human trial of a possible coronavirus vaccine, its Institute of Medical Biology at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences said.
