Hetero’s injectable ‘Covifor’ gets DCGI approval for COVID-19 Treatment

For the treatment of COVID-19 positive cases, on 21^st June 2020, Hyderabad based pharmaceutical company -Hetero Drugs has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (a department under- CDSCO: Central Drugs Standard Control Organization) for manufacturing and marketing of antiviral drug Remdesivir.

Brandname for Marketing

Under the brand name ‘Covifor’, Hetero Pharmaceuticals’ generic version of Remdesivir will be marketed in India.

The drug is manufactured at the Hetero company’s Hyderabad facility, while its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) is being developed at Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam.

Remdesivir

The antiviral drug ‘Remdesivir’ is administered via injection into a vein. This antiviral medication was developed by the United States biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences for treatment of Hepatitis C.

United Kingdom, Singapore, and Japan are the countries where the drug has been approved to date for the treatment of COVID-19 cases.

Price and Availability

As it is an injectable drug,  it has to be administered under the supervision of a healthcare practitioner and will not be available through any retail channel. The drug will be made available for hospitals and government healthcare agencies. It will be available in a 100mg injectable dose. The price will be in the range of Rs 5,000 to 6,000 per dose.

Hetero has targeted to manufacture one lakh doses of it in the upcoming weeks, the company has stated that production can be increased based on the demand.

Covifor will be used for the treatment of confirmed COVID-19 cases for those who have severe symptoms of the disease.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2020