Genencell said Tuesday it obtained approval from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase 2/3 trial of ES16001 (pipeline name: GNC102), an oral Covid-19 treatment candidate.

The biotech firm is conducting Covid-19 drug trials in multiple countries.

In October, it received the nod to conduct the study in Korea.

The trials are taking place not only in Korea and India but Europe and Russia.

Genencell will investigate ES16001’s dose and efficacy and recruit 424 participants for the phase 2 study.

The company had already secured 20 hospitals in India to conduct the trial and won the institutional review board’s approval at nine hospitals. Thus, patient enrollment will start in nine hospitals first, the company said.

Genencell’s Covid-19 treatment samples for clinical trials will be produced by Korea Pharma, the strategic partner of Genencell.

“As we confirmed partial efficacy in traditional medicine Ayurveda in 2020, we expect that the upcoming trial will produce positive results,” an official at Genencell said.