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