India has banned the exports of injection Remdesivir and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the Covid-19 situation in the country improves. Besides, the government has taken three steps to ensure easy access of hospitals and patients to Remdesivir.
1) All domestic manufactures of Remdesivir have been advised to display on their website, details of their stockists/distributors to facilitate access to the drug.
2) Drugs inspectors and other officers have been directed to verify stocks and check their malpractices and also take other effective actions to curb hoarding and black marketing. The State Health Secretaries will review this with the Drug Inspectors of the respective States/UTs.
3) The Department of Pharmaceuticals has been in contact with the domestic manufacturers to ramp up the production of Remdesivir.
India bans export of Remdesivir
In a statement, the Union government said, “India is witnessing a recent surge in COVID cases. This has led to a sudden spike in demand for Injection Remdesivir used in the treatment of COVID patients. There is a potential of a further increase in this demand in the coming days.”
A total of seven Indian companies are producing Injection Remdesivir under a voluntary licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences in the United States of America. They have an installed capacity of about 38.80 lakh units per month, it said.
“In light of the above, Government of India has prohibited the exports of Injection Remdesivir and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the situation improves,” the statement said.
The Union Government has also advised the States that the extant “National Clinical Management Protocol for COVID-19”, which is based on evidence, has been developed after many interactions by the Committee of Experts, and is the guiding document for treatment of Covid-19 patients.
“In the Protocol, Remdesivir is listed as an Investigational Therapy, an example was informed and shared decision making is essential, besides taking note of contraindications mentioned in the detailed guidelines, they added.
States and UTs have been advised that these steps should again be communicated to all hospitals, both in the public and private sector, and compliance monitored.
India Covid-19 tally
India hit a new coronavirus infection record with 1,68,912 new cases, the highest single-day rise so far, taking the total tally of cases to 1,35,27,717, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.
The active cases have surpassed the 12-lakh mark, while the death toll increased to 1,70,179 with 904 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. India’s tally of more than 1.35 crore Covid cases is the second-highest globally, behind the United States and just ahead of Brazil’s.
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