As the second Covid wave begins to ebb in most parts of the country, the Centre on Saturday said it has stopped allocating Remdesivir to states as the supply of the antiviral drug has surpassed demand.
Making the announcement on Twitter, Union Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya on Saturday tweeted, “Now the country has enough #Remdesivir as the supply is much more than the demand. So we have decided to DISCONTINUE the Central Allocation of Remdesivir to States.”
In an attempt to increase the availability of the drug in the country, the Centre on April 11, banned the export of Remdesivir and many state governments directed hospitals to administer the drug to only those suffering from a severe case of Covid-19 infection.
Remdesivir was originally developed to treat Hepatitis C and subsequently tested against Ebola. While it has been used for Covid treatment, there’s no evidence to prove that it helps curtail mortality in Covid-19 patients.
Mandaviya noted that the supply of the drug has been ramped up over ten times from just 33,000 vials a day on April 11, 2021 to 3,50,000 vials per day currently.
The government has also increased the number of plants producing Remdesivir from just 20 to 60 plants within a month, he added.
Besides, the Centre has decided to procure 50 lakh vials of Remdesivir to maintain it as a strategic stock for emergency requirement, Mandaviya said.
"But I have also directed @nppa_india & @CDSCO_INDIA_INF to continuously monitor the availability of Remdesivir in the country," he noted.
In order to improve supply, the government has already waived customs duty on Remdesivir, its raw materials and other components used in making the antiviral drug in order to help augment domestic availability and reduce the cost of the injection.
Various drug companies have also cut the prices of Remdesivir injection following intervention of the government.
(With PTI inputs)
