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Apart from tightening the approvals process for pharmaceutical products meant for overseas markets, the government’s efforts are also directed at strengthening drug exports
With the Indian drugs failing quality checks in other countries, the government recently made GMP mandatory for micro, small and medium enterprises manufacturing drugs.
UPDATED: May 12, 2021 09:24 IST LIFELINE: A Chennai resident with Remdesivir purchased from a government facility (Arun Sankar/Getty Images) When a harried Naresh Indulkar, a resident of Mumbai’s Thane, went searching for three vials of Remdesivir for a relative in critical condition in hospital, it took nearly six hours to find a pharmacy with stock. “Rs 22,000 a vial,” whispered the man behind the counter, though the marked retail price was only Rs 1,800. Distraught, Indulkar returned to his apartment. A glimmer of hope appeared in the form of a reply from his neighbour to an appeal he had posted on his residential society’s WhatsApp group. On calling him, the neighbour came up two floors and offered Indulkar three spare vials of Remdesivir he had. “He had bought eight vials—at a premium—to treat his father,” recalls Indulkar. “Five sufficed, and as thanksgiving, he offered me the rest at the marked price, unmindful of his financial loss.”
ISSUE DATE: May 17, 2021 UPDATED: May 7, 2021 23:36 IST Staff at the Ghazipur crematorium in Delhi cart in fresh logs as funeral pyres burn all around them (Rajk Raj/ Getty Images) The second wave of Covid-19 is still cresting but by now we have all been touched by its terrors, and all too many of us by its sorrows—and the dismal realisation that we are in the midst of a recurring nightmare, a tragedy foretold. Here, we expose the sorry tale of neglect, apathy and failure of our political leadership. The institutional collapse and bureaucratic cowardice that facilitated super-spreader religious festivals and the political carnival of an eight-phase election campaign even as the second wave of a pandemic was breaking. The narcissism that enabled our leadership to ignore the warnings of expert groups. Their inability to form bipartisan alliances between the Centre and the states in the middle of a national calamity. Now that some of the loudest voices in the land have gone quiet, the government’s silence over the anguished and angry questions being raised over its management of Covid’s second wave can be deafening. Our reports offer some answers to these questions and suggestions from experts on how to find a way out of this continuing tragedy of errors. Most of all, we need action from the government—and fast.
Inside Remdesivir puzzle: 6 producers, little supply! Demand fell to almost nil by January after the first wave of the pandemic in the country. Since there was no demand, most manufacturers stopped giving fresh orders for manufacturing PB Jayakumar | May 3, 2021 | Updated 19:22 IST Demand for Remdesivir fell to almost nil by January after the first wave of the pandemic in the country Reduction in production due to less demand after the first wave of coronavirus and lack of vigil on the part of the Government to ensure stockpiling led to current Remdesivir crisis, say sources. Gilead Life Sciences, the innovator of the re-purposed drug, had licensed six manufacturers in India to produce the drug. Most of them were dependent on contract manufacturers and their subsidiaries to make the product. Demand fell to almost nil by January after the first wave of the pandemic in the country. Since there was no demand, most manufacturers stopped giving fresh orders for manufacturing. Neither the manufacturers nor the policy makers anticipated a second wave and failed to stockpile the life saving drug, sources said.
Covid-19: Why is there a shortage of Remdesivir?- Business News businesstoday.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from businesstoday.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.