Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Gilead to donate 450k remdesivir vials to India, boost production

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NEW DELHI: Gilead Sciences Inc said on Monday it will give India at least 450,000 vials of its antiviral drug remdesivir and help boost production, as the world’s second-most populous country reels from surging coronaviru­s cases.

“In response to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in India, the company is providing its voluntary licensing partners with technical assistance, support for the addition of new local manufactur­ing facilities and the donation of active pharmaceut­ical ingredient (API) to rapidly scale up production of remdesivir,” Gilead Sciences said in a statement

Remdesivir is approved in India for restricted emergency use to treat severe Covid-19 cases, but hospitals are facing supply shortages due to indiscrimi­nate use and the drug is being sold at over 10 times its listed price in the black market.

Seven Indian companies have licensed the drug from Gilead, with an installed capacity of about 3.9 million units per month. Gilead said all of them were scaling up their batch sizes and adding new manufactur­ing facilities.

 ?? REUTERS ?? People wearing PPE kits carry the body of a person who died of Covid-19, during a mass cremation at a ground in New Delhi.
REUTERS People wearing PPE kits carry the body of a person who died of Covid-19, during a mass cremation at a ground in New Delhi.

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