NEW DELHI, MAY 06, 2021: THE government has allocated a total of 34.5 lakh vials of the COVID-19 drug Remdesivir to States and Union Territories (UTs) since April 21, said Minister of Chemicals Mr DV Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday.
As he chaired a meeting to review the availability of drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, Mr Gowda said the seven Remdesivir manufacturers have increase the production capacity to 1.03 crore vials per month, up from 38 lakh vials a month ago.
“This increased capacity will augment domestic availability of the injection,” he said, stating that 16.5 lakh vials of Remdesivir has been made to all States between May 3-9.
“Allocation to States is a dynamic process and efforts will be made to further enhance supply in the coming weeks,” he added.
During the meeting, availability of other essentials drugs was also discussed, with the minister stressing the need to continuously monitor availability and check instances of black marketing and hoarding.
A survey is being undertaken to ascertain availability of various medicines in the market and preliminary findings suggest that at present, there is “adequate availability.”
Regarding black marketing and hoarding, State Drug Controllers have been instructed to make teams for field inspections with strict action taken against culprits to check overcharging of Covid management drugs like Remdesivir, Tocilizumab and Favipiravir.
With the massive surge in COVID-19 cases, the government has also waived customs duty on Remdesivir and its raw materials and banned its export. Various pharmaceutical companies have also slashed prices of the Remdesivir injection following government intervention.