India will import 450,000 bottles of Remdesivir, the first shipment arriving today: Govt

The center said on Friday India has started importing Remdesivir from other countries and that the first shipment of 75,000 vials will arrive later in the day as the country battles alleviate the lack of critical antiviral drug with increased cases of coronavirus disease (Covid- 19 ) HLL Lifecare Ltd, a government owned enterprise of India, has ordered 4,50,000 bottles of Remdesivir from M / s Gilead Sciences Inc. USA. and Egyptian Pharma Company, M / s Eva Pharma. It is expected that Gilead Sciences Inc. USA will ship 75,000 to 1,00.00 vials in the next day or two. One hundred thousand more quantities will also be supplied before or by May 15th. EVA pharma will supply approximately 10,000 vials initially followed by 50,000 vials every 15 days or until July, the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said in a statement.

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The ministry statement comes on a day that India recorded another 386,452 new infections in the last 24 hours on another global record and 3498 deaths bringing the number of countries to more than 18.7 million and the death toll to 208,330 since the beginning of the pandemic, second only to the United States. Shocked people are flooding social media and messaging apps with heartbroken prayers for oxygen, medicine and room in intensive care units as they have been struggling to find hospital beds.

The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers also said that the government has increased the production capacity of Remdesivir in the country. On 27.04.21, the production capacity of seven licensed domestic producers increased from 38 lakh bottles per month to 1.03 crore bottles per month. A total of 13.73 lakh vials have been supplied nationwide by Drug companies in the last seven days (April 21-28, 2021). Daily supply has increased from 67,900 vials on April 11 to 2.09 vials lakh on April 28, 2021. An advice has been issued by the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) to the states and UT to facilitate the smooth movement of supplies Remdesivir, said she.

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The government also stopped exporting Remdesivir to increase its availability in India and released the revised maximum retail price, thus lowering the cost of all major brands below. 3500 per vial to ensure injection affordability between measures, NPPA on 17 April 2021.

In order to facilitate higher production and availability of Remdesivir, the revenue department has also waived the customs duty on Remdesivir injection, its API and Beta cyclodextrin used in the production of Remdesivir, until 31 October. The National Treatment Protocol was updated through clinical management guidelines. of adults with COVID 19 patients from AIIMS / ICMR-COVID-19 National Task Force / MoHFW Joint Monitoring Group on 22.04.2021. The updated protocol will encourage the wise use of Drugs and is expected to contribute to demand rationalization, the statement added.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters Thursday that more than 40 countries have pledged to send vital medical aid, especially oxygen supplies. Supplies from the US Britain, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Australia and elsewhere include nearly 550 oxygen generating plants, more than 4,000 oxygen concentrators, 10,000 oxygen cylinders and 17 cryogenic tanks. Shringla also said that hundreds of thousands of doses of Covid-19 treatment drugs, as well as raw materials to produce vaccines and remdesivir, were also being shipped. “It’s an unprecedented situation,” Shringla said.

On Friday, US first aid in India arrived on Friday as the Super Galaxy military carrier carrying more than 400 oxygen cylinders, other hospital equipment and nearly a million rapid coronavirus tests landed at New Delhi International Airport.