New Delhi: Hyderabad-based drugmaker Hetero, which has approval to manufacture and market the generic version of the experimental COVID-19 drug Remdesivir, has sent 20,000 vials to five states including Maharashtra and Delhi – the two worst affected states in the country.
Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are the other two states that will receive the first batch of the drug which is being marketed under the brand name COVIFOR in India. Telangana’s capital Hyderabad, where the drugmaker is based, will also receive the first consignment.
Hetero has set a target to produce one lakh vials of the drug in two-three weeks.
The next batch of the drug will be shipped to Kolkata, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Vijayawada, Kochi, Trivandrum and Goa.
Apart from Hetero, Cipla has signed licensing agreements with US-based Gilead Sciences Inc, the original manufacturer of Remdesivir, to make and sell the drug.
Currently, the drug is being manufactured at the company’s formulation facility in Hyderabad. The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is being made in the firm’s Visakhapatnam facility.
According to reports, a patient will need at least six vial of the drug which will be used for restricted emergency in severe COVID-19 cases. Hetero said 100-milligram vial of the drug will cost Rs 5,400 Meanwhile, Cipla has said its antiviral drug Remdesivir would be priced below Rs 5,000.
Regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the generic versions made by Cipla and Hetero for restricted emergency use in severe COVID-19 cases.
The treatment was the first to show improvement in trials on COVID-19 patients and has won approval for emergency use in severely ill patients in the United States and South Korea, and received full approval in Japan. It is yet to be priced in the United States.