‘Export of the drug has been prohibited and it is also being imported from Egypt’
The Centre on Monday told the Madras High Court that seven Indian licensees of patented anti-viral drug Remdesivir were manufacturing only 27 lakh vials a month as on April 1 this year, though their installed capacity was 38.80 lakh a month. Now, due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in certain parts of the country, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has permitted them to produce as many as 1.19 crore vials a month.
Appearing before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) R. Sankaranarayanan said the patent for Remdesivir was held by Gilead of the United States and only seven Indian companies were manufacturing the drug here, under license agreements. DCGI V.G. Somani jumped into action when the demand for the drug increased recently.