India to import 450,000 Remdesivir vials, first consignment to reach today: Govt

[devikad]

India to import 450,000 Remdesivir vials, first consignment to reach today: Govt

The Centre said on Friday India has started importing Remdesivir from other countries and that the first consignment of 75,000 vials will reach later in the day as the country battles ease out the shortage of the critical antiviral drug with surging cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). "HLL Lifecare Ltd, a government of India owned company, has ordered 4,50,000 vials 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 dispatch 75,000 to 1,00,00 vials in the next one or two days. Further one hundred thousand quantities will also be supplied before or by May 15. EVA pharma will supply approximately 10,000 vials initially followed by 50,000 vials every 15 days or till July," the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers said in a statement.

The ministry's statement comes on a day India recorded another 386,452 new infections in the past 24 hours—in another global record—and 3498 fatalities which pushed the country's tally to more than 18.7 million and the death toll to 208,330 since the pandemic began, second only to the United States. Distraught people are flooding social media and messaging apps with heartbreaking pleas for oxygen, medicines and room in intensive care units as they have been struggling to find hospital beds.

The ministry of chemical and fertilizer also said that the government has ramped up the production capacity of Remdesivir in the country. "As on 27.04.21, the production capacity of the seven licensed domestic manufacturers increased from 38 lakh vials per month to 1.03 crore vials per month. Total 13.73 lakh vials have been supplied across the country by the Drug companies in the last seven days (21-28 April, 2021). The daily supply has gone up from 67,900 vials on 11th April to 2.09 lakh vials on 28th April, 2021. An advisory was issued by MHA (the ministry of home affairs) to states and UTs to facilitate smooth movement of Remdesivir supplies," it said.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-to-import-450-000-remdesivir-vials-first-consignment-to-reach-today-govt-101619768133043.html