The PSU has got the necessary license from West Bengal Directorate of Drugs Control to manufacture the drug, informs a report filed in The Indian Express
The West Bengal government has granted approval to Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceuticals Limited to manufacture hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to fight against COVID-19 infection.
The West Bengal Directorate of Drugs Control gave necessary license to the country’s first and oldest pharmaceutical company after the Kolkata-based firm, the only public sector unit that manufactures anti-malarial drug in India, recently applied for a licence to produce HCQ.
During a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, a senior official of the company requested the state government to grant them licence to that it could produce the drug. After getting the sanction, the PSU will now be able to manufacture hydroxychloroquine tablet IP 200 and 400 mg.
“Now we can manufacture the tablet, subject to availability of raw material. We are fully equipped to produce the drug. If raw materials are made available, then we will start our work soon and will be able to produce the drug next week,” said a senior official of the company.
According to the official, the company has the capacity of producing 10 lakh tablets every day. Use of hydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis has been suggested by a section of experts to combat COVID-19 infection. Recently, India agreed to export hydroxychloroquine to the US and many other countries.
If 5mg of sea pearl powder is added to a tablet of Hydroxychloroquine, this drug will cure Covid-19 very soon and will also act as waxing.
The Indian govt should have let the company grow into a big chemical company, through financial assistance, which unfortunately was not done. Prof. P. C. Ray was a internationally renowned chemist, discovered mercurous nitrate. He was FRS.
It is very encouraging to Bengal Economy that Nation’s First & Oldest Calcutta based Pharma Company- BCPL has got license to manufacture HCQ recently.
Here it may plz be recorded that Calcutta based another Pharma – Public Sector– Bengal Immunity ( disloved in 2003 ) was earlier the only key player of Central Govt’s National Programme of Eradication of Malaria. BI was established in British India by Dr Bidhan Ch Roy & Capt. Narendra Nath Dutta.But now it is history.
D.K. De is wrong. P.C. Ray was nominated for FRS, but but he never became F.R.S. Also the new compound prepared by P.C.Ray was mercurous nitrite and not mercurous nitrate.