With the price of Remdesivir, the only antiviral drug that is currently known for treating Covid-19, shooting as high as upto Rs 70,00-80,000 per vial in the black market in some cities, doctors have called upon the Government to step in urgently to check hoarding/pilferage of the medicine and ensure its adequate availability to save the lives. The maximum retail price of per 100 mg vial of Remdesivir is between Rs 4,800 and Rs 5,400, depending on the brand.
“There have been various reports from across the country that relatives of the Covid-infected patients have been running from pillar to post to get the vial and in many cases have to shell out as high as Rs 80,000 per vial as well.
“Covid 19 is a humanitarian crisis and during these difficult times hoarding and black marketing can be big setback as well as demoralising for the doctors patients and families,” said Dr Rajinder K Dhamija , Head of Neurology, Department at Lady Hardinge Medical College and SSK Hospital. He hoped that the Government would intervene at the earliest to ensure its availability in hospitals and open markets as well.
In the absence of any other proven medicine it is being used as the main drug along with Tociluzumab and, unfortunately, both are in short supply, he pointed out.
While four-fifths of the Covid-19 cases in India are asymptomatic and mild, the remaining 20 percent are moderate, requiring oxygen support. Remdesivir has been approved by the DCGI, country’s drug regulator, for treating such moderate cases with oxygen support. “Presently, Remedesivir is not available in the free market and is only distributed through hospitals and that creates a gap between demand and supply,” said Dr Dhamija.
The Government had recently revised the dosage of the Remdesivir being administered to hospitalized Covid-19 patients from the earlier six-day to five-day treatment course, informed Dr Rahul Bhargava, Director and Head, Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram.
He too stressed on increasing the production and check on pilferage. He explained the modus operandi being used by the hospitals too. In some cases, we have got reports that doctors avail Remdesivir for even those Covid patients who do not need it and then sell it in the open market to make money. There should be a mechanism to check this pilferage, he said adding that currently the drug is not under Schedule H.
Prof Bejon Misra, Founder Director, Patients Safety and Access Initiative was of the view that there is a need to reduce the price of each vial because in India affordability in itself an issue especially during the pandemic situation.
Along with Cipla, Hetero, and Mylan, Gilead has licensing deals with Jubilant Life Sciences, Dr Reddy's , Zydus Cadila and Syngene to manufacture and distribute Remdesivir in India and 126 other countries. The DCGI, meanwhile, has also approved Mylan's version of Remdesivir while Hetero has been allowed to supply the drug to hospital pharmacies.