Experts ask govt to ensure access to remdesivir, raise concerns about supply shortage
Many also allude to an emerging black market for remdesivir in the country through which the drug is being sold at exorbitant prices per vial
Amidst rising cases of coronavirus infection and limited treatment options, there are reports about supply shortage of remdesivir injections in the country. Members of the healthcare fraternity and public health activists have raised concerns about this situation and requested the government to intervene and resolve this issue at the earliest.
Prof Bejon Misra, Founder Director, Patients Safety and Access Initiative said, “Following the vision of accessibility and affordability, the NPPA and other regulatory authorities need to play a proactive role in such a situation to ensure that the medicines used for the treatment of COVID-19 are not in short supply. However, we are seeing that one of the ICMR recommended medicines, ‘Remedisivir’ is in shorter supply and creating a panic situation in the country.”
A medical practitioner from the Mumbai suburbs who is treating the COVID-19 patients informed, “We are seeing positive results after administrating remdesivir injection on patients. However, in the last couple of days, we have observed a shortage of supply, which is affecting treatment.”
He added, “The pharma companies and the government should ensure continuity in the supply of such medicines. Besides, there is also a need to reduce the price of each vial because in India affordability in itself an issue especially during the pandemic situation.”
The supply so far…
Last month, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) gave permission to Cipla and Hetero Labs to manufacture and market Gilead Sciences’ anti-viral drug remdesivir for “restricted emergency use” on hospitalised patients. Recently, it has also granted approval to Mylan Laboratories to manufacture and market the drug in India.
Hetero has already launched its product in the market, under the brand name ‘Covifor’. It is priced at Rs 5400 for each vial. The company’s first batch comprising over 30,000 vials have already been supplied, approximately 20,000 vials were delivered to the private hospitals and the remaining have been given to government institutions across the country.
Cipla is yet to launch its product, Cipremi, in the market. It is likely to launch it post July 9, 2020. A source from the company informed that Cipla is also now geared to supply remedisivir injection. It has the capacity to meet the growing demand.
Mylan has not announced a launch date for its product yet. Reportedly, the company’s consignments from China carrying some of the intermediates required to manufacture remdesivir was stuck at the Air Cargo Complex, Mumbai for a couple of days. It got clearances recently.
Measures to ramp up supply