Remdesivir shortage is India is easing: Cipla

India’s supply of antiviral drug remdesivir and generic equivalents is stabilising after shortages of the vital COVID-19 medicine at hospitals, said Kedar Upadhye, Global Chief Financial Officer, Cipla.

Cipla’s launch of remdesivir in late June, along with subsequent launches by others, has helped ease supply bottlenecks in India, said Upadhye.

India, one of the world’s biggest producer of generic drugs, recommends remdesivir for moderate to severe COVID-19. Doctors also use other drugs, including favipiravir, another antiviral approved for the disease.

Cipla, which is also free to export the drug, supplies it in South Africa and plans to expand access to “several sub-Saharan African countries”.

Cipla declined to comment on the number of vials of remdesivir it had shipped so far but said it had started making the drug at a plant in Goa in western India to ramp up production.