New Delhi: With the sudden increase of cases during the second wave of the pandemic, the government has taken speedy actions to improve the availability of an anti-viral drug Remdesivir across the country. Currently, nearly 119 lakh vials of Remdesivir are being produced per month, the Department of Pharmaceuticals informed on Monday.
The department has, ever since, increased the monitor on the availability, production and supply of Remdesivir. This has resulted in a large increase in the number of manufacturing sites of Remdesivir.
Seven Indian pharmaceutical companies, namely Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Lab., Hetero, Jubilant Pharma, Mylan, Syngene and Zydus Cadila, were given voluntary licenses by the patent holder of Remdesivir, Gilead Life Sciences USA.
In order to boost production, the approval of 38 additional production sites was accelerated by the Government. This increased the number of authorised manufacturing sites of Remdesivir in the country from 22 to 60 sites, the Department of Pharmaceuticals stated in an official statement.
The makers of Remdesivir are also being helped for getting supplies of essential raw materials and equipment from foreign countries, with the help of the Ministry of External Affairs.
The export of Remdesiver has been banned since April 11, and the customs duty on Remdesivir injection, Remdesivir API, and Beta Cyclodextrin (SBEBCD) used in the production of Remdesivir has also been excused since April 20.
The Central government has been making allocations to States and UTs, in order to guarantee equal distribution of Remdesivir. The first allocation of 11 lakh vials was made for 19 states and UTs with high demand on April 21 for a period up to April 30. The latest allocation of 76 lakh vials was issued on May 16 for the period up to May 23.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has asked the state governments and UTs to observe proper distribution within their jurisdiction, covering both government as well as private hospitals, and in line with judicious use as advised in the “National Clinical Guidance for management of adult Covid-19 patients” issued jointly by AIIMS/ICMR Covid-19 National Task Force and Joint Monitoring Group of MoHFW.
State Governments and UTs have also been told to place sufficient purchase orders with the marketing companies immediately for the quantity that they want to purchase out of allocation for the State/ UT as per supply plan in close coordination with liaison officers of the companies. The states are also asked to coordinate with private distribution channels in the state.
States are also to oversee the mechanism for issuance of Remdesivir drug to the needy patients and to advertise it among the public well.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals, through National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA), is in regular touch with all the States through their Nodal officers and producing companies through their Liaison Officers to keep the complaints concerning supply in check.
“India has also received 5.26 lakh vials of Remdesivir donation from other countries and organisations and 40,000 vials were imported. These have also been allocated to the States and UTs”, the department said.
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