Remdesivir production capacity increased to 1.19 crore vials per month: Govt

A man holds boxes of Remdesivir, an antiviral drug used to treat Covid-19 coroanavirus symptoms, purchased from government dispensary in Chennai on April 27, 2021. Credit: AFP File Photo

Production capacity of Remdesivir, anti viral drug, increased to nearly 1.19 crore vials per month from 38 lakh vials, said the government on Monday.

"With accelerated approval of 38 additional manufacturing sites, the number of approved manufacturing sites of Remdesivir in the country has increased from 22 sites to 60 sites. With the help of the Ministry of External Affairs, the manufacturers of Remdesivir are being facilitated for getting supplies of requisite raw materials and equipment from foreign countries," the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertiliser said in a statement.

Also read: Remdesivir sale to be streamlined in Tamil Nadu from May 18

Remdesivir is being used to treat Covid-19 patients. "The drug is being manufactured in India under voluntary licenses granted by Gilead Life Sciences USA, the patent holder, to 7 Indian pharmaceutical companies - Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Lab., Hetero, Jubilant Pharma, Mylan, Syngene and Zydus Cadila," said the statement.

"To augment the domestic production capacity, all the seven domestic licensed manufacturers of Remdesivir were asked to ramp up production quickly. With combined efforts of the central government and the manufacturing companies, the production capacity of the licensed manufacturers has increased unprecedentedly from 38 lakh vials per month to nearly 119 lakh vials per month," said the statement.

Also read: 76L vials of Remdesivir allocated to states till May 23: Sadananda Gowda

"The State Governments have been asked to monitor 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 National Task Force and Joint Monitoring Group of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

"State Governments have been advised to place adequate purchase orders with the marketing companies immediately for the quantity that they want to purchase out of allocation for the State as per supply plan in close coordination with liaison officers of the companies. The coordination with private distribution channel in the state is also to be made by the States," said the statement.

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