‘50K vials of remdesivir ordered, tie-up with firm for tocilizumab’
GROUND REALITY Patients’ kin claim shortage of drugs, BMC denies it; experts say need to manufacture meds in India
MUMBAI:STOCKS of anti-viral drug remdesivir and immunosuppressive drug tocilizumab are likely to improve from next week, according to manufacturing companies and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Families of Covid-19 patients and doctors have said that generic brands of remdesivir and tocilizumab are in short supply in Mumbai. The drugs are being used to treat moderate to critical cases of Covid-19 and are only available in hospitals. One city doctor, who is conducting clinical trials of remdesivir for a manufacturing company, said he receives approximately 1,200 requests for the drug daily from distressed patients.
Bandra resident Salman Mujawar said, “Two of my uncles, who are senior citizens, have tested positive for the virus. On Wednesday, one was prescribed tocilizumab and the other remdesivir. Neither are available anywhere.”
There are two licensed dealers of the drugs in the city. Hetero Healthcare on Friday announced that it will distribute 60,000 units of the Covifor injection, which is its generic brand of remdesivir, across the country between July 13 and July 20.
Of these, 12,500 units will be distributed in Maharashtra. This is the second batch from the pharmaceutical company. Cipla, the other company permitted to manufacture the drug, started production of CIPEMI (remdesivir) on Monday.
Around 80,000 vials will be available within the first month, said Nikhil Chopra, executive vice president and chief executive officer (India, business), Cipla.
Chopra added that Cipla is also moving expeditiously to ensure supplies of tocilizumab.
BMC said it has placed an order for 50,000 vials of remdesivir for a month, and will increase the amount in case of greater demand. It has also tied up with a pharmaceutical company to procure tocilizumab, said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner (health).
However, doctors worry that the drugs may be needed in greater quantities. “These drugs are imported to India, although
Indian pharmaceutical companies are doing their best to produce and launch internally,” said Dr Prashant Borade, head of the critical care unit of Global Hospitals, in Mumbai. “Several companies need to start producing these medicines in India to match the demand. Also, guidelines are needed regarding their use by the medical fraternity,” he said.
BMC, however, denies there has been any shortage in supply and said a revised system is in place to arrest any leakage of drugs. “We are using the drugs judiciously and there is enough till July 31,” said Kakani.
On Thursday, BMC directed deans of all civic-run hospitals and medical superintendents of peripheral hospitals to upload real-time information on the use of the drugs. “The hospital has to inform us about patient’s unique identification number, details and the number of vials administered to the patient. This will be cross-checked after the patient is discharged,” said Kakani. On May 20, BMC had placed an order for 3,500 vials of tocilizumab, most of which has been delivered. It also ordered 15,000 vials of remdesivir, of which 5,000 have been delivered.
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Friday made it mandatory for all medical shops to keep a record of Aadhaar card numbers, prescriptions and contact numbers of all those buying remdesivir and tocilizumab, which are being used to treat moderate and severe cases of Covid-19. The state has also set up a toll free number (1800222365) where people can report anyone hoarding the drugs or selling them at high prices.
State home minister Anil Deshmukh and food and drug administration (FDA) minister Dr Rajendra Shingne held a meeting on Friday to regulate the distribution remdesivir and tocilizumab following complaints of the drugs being illegally hoarded and traded in the black market. The meeting was also attended by Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and director general of police Subodh Jaiswal.
“We decided to make Aadhaar card, Covid test report, prescription and contact details mandatory for those who want to buy these drugs. This has been done in the wake of complaints that some are trying to buy them for black marketing,” Shingne said.
“Cipla and Hetero assured an increase in their supply of remdesivir. People don’t need to panic as sufficient stock will be available soon,” said the home minister. He also said action would be taken against all those found guilty of dealing the life-saving drugs in the black market.
Shingne also announced a 24-hour helpline where people can report anyone hoarding the drugs or selling them at inflated prices. In such cases, action will be taken by both FDA and home department.
At present, only medical stores attached to hospitals have the drugs. Shingne said only private hospitals ask relatives of patients to get the drugs from these medical stores because Covid-19 is being treated for free at civic-run facilities.
Previously, Shingne along with officials from FDA’S vigilance department had conducted surprise checks at six hospitals, including Masina, Sir JJ Hospital, Saifee and Bombay Hospitals. FDA commissioner Arun Unhale said, “We have started random checking to see if black marketing is going on. Those found guilty will be punished.”
Shingne said another meeting would be held today, to see what else can be done to ensure these drugs are not traded illegally or hoarded.
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the state to file an affidavit in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a student and a Solapur farmer seeking a direction to the authorities to disclose the identities of Covid-19 patients so that “others who have come in their contact can take appropriate precautionary steps to protect themselves from the contagion”. The bench of justice Amjad Sayed and justice MS Karnik gave the state two weeks to file the reply.
Law student Vaishnavi Gholave and farmer Mahesh Gadekar filed the PIL through advocate Vinod Sangvikar, contending that on several occasions, Covid-19 patients are unable to recognise or give complete details of their contacts, owing to which, tracing becomes difficult and many suspected cases fall through the cracks.
The petitioners cited the example of a meat seller from Muraji Peth in Solapur who tested positive for Covid-19. Around 1,000 people came in contact with him before he tested positive. “However, the meat -seller didn’t know all his customers or their whereabouts,” the plea stated, adding that there are around 25 meat sellers in Muraji Peth and as the name of the infected seller was not disclosed, locals did not know if they were exposed to the virus or not.
The plea questioned the intention behind keeping the identity of Covid-19 patients under wraps while expressing fear that such unwarranted lack of voluntary disclosure might deepen the healthcare crisis as the community transmission in the state appears to be a reality soon.
1 CIVIC HOSP, 1 PVT LAB