In a move that will provide significant relief to thousands of COVID-19 patients, the Centre reduced the price of the anti-COVID-19 drug Remdesivir by approximately Rs 2,000 per injection on Saturday (April 17, 2021).
The Ministry of Chemicals Fertilizers, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Member Advisor Dr Vinod Kotwal released a new list of revised prices in a press release on Saturday.
As India fights the second outbreak of coronavirus, the injection’s makers have cut the price due to a shortage of the anti-viral Remdesivir. The announcement came after the Centre met with all current Remdesivir injection suppliers to address increasing demand and availability as well as lowering the price of Remdesivir injection.
The updated price rates are as follows:
1. Cadila Healthcare Ltd REMDAC from 2,800/- to 899/-
2. Syngene International Ltd (Biocon Biologics India) RemWin from 3,950/- to 2,450/-
3. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd REDYX from 5,400/- to 2,700/-
4. Cipla Ltd CIPREMI from 4,000/- to 3,000/-
5. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd DESREM from 4,800/- to 3,400/-
6. Jubilant Generics Ltd JUBI-R from 4,700/- to 3,400/-
7. Hetero Healthcare Ltd COVIFOR from 5,400/- to 3,490/-
The market for the anti-viral drug Remdesivir has increased as India faces a second wave of novel coronavirus infections. On April 11, the Centre prohibited the sale of Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients.
“In view of the above, the Government of India has banned the export of Remdesivir Injection and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) until the condition improves,” the health ministry said in a statement. Seven Indian firms have approved the drug from Gilead Sciences in the United States, with an installed capacity of approximately 3.9 million units per month.
According to health ministry numbers, India reported a record daily rise of 234,692 Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall count to more than 1.45 crore cases. That was the eighth consecutive record daily rise in the previous nine days.
The record increase has increased India’s Covid-19 case count to 1,45,26,609 cases.
