IT News
Mumbai, June 7:
The Maharashtra government is in the process of procuring 10,000 vials of the investigational drug “Remdesivir”, to cure coronavirus and is in price negotiations with various suppliers, State health minister Rajesh Tope stated here on Saturday.
He said that the Government is trying to mobilise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to buy the expensive medicine, which is an anti-viral drug used on moderately ill to severely ill patients to stop the spread of the virus in the body. It was manufactured in 2014 to treat “Ebola” and has since been used to treat patients of “SARS” and “MERS”.
While Tope said a Bangladeshi company may be selected to procure medicines, Directorate of Medical Education and Research Director Dr T P Lahane, said state government has reached out to the US and some Indian companies to procure “Remdesivir”. Manufacturers are quoting Rs 20,000 for a single vial, which means for a five-day regimen the cost per patient will go up to Rs 1 lakh and for a 10-day regimen Rs 2 lakh, Lahane added.
Another senior official said if Bangladesh provides “Remdesivir” as donation, India can accept the stock. At the same time, there needs to be a check on how authentic and effective the product manufactured by this company is.
In India, drug-makers like “Cipla” are learned to have already sought approval to manufacture and supply “Remdesivir” as part of a voluntary licence signed with “Gilead”. However, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), is still performing audits of their facilities and awaiting sufficient data from these companies to ensure that their generic versions of “Remdesivir” adhere to the quality and safety standards for this medicine.
Earlier this week, the Drug Controller General of India approved the use of “Remdesivir” as a five-day regimen to treat COVID-19 patients. “Gilead Sciences”, its manufacturer, has signed licence agreements with five generic pharmaceutical manufacturers — with Cipla, Ferozsons Laboratories, Hetero Labs, Jubilant Lifesciences and Mylan — based in India and Pakistan to expand the supply of the drug in Southeast Asia. So far, Drug Controller General of India V.G. Somani, who heads the CDSCO, has only given an approval to Mumbai-based “Klinera Global Services” to import “Remdesivir” from three manufacturing sites in the US.
According to infectious disease expert, Dr Om Srivastava, the two anti-viral drugs “Remdesivir” and “Favipiravir” have shown promise in Covid-19 treatment, so far. But it is too early to comment on their efficacy. “Remdesivir”, is being allowed as part of treatment though clinical trials, to test its effectiveness. As such its use has to be heavily restricted and monitored in India.
