Drugmaker Hetero has priced Covifor, its generic version of Gilead’s investigational drug Remdesivir for COVID-19 patients, at ₹5,400 per (100 mg) vial.
Announcing the cost, Hetero on Wednesday said Hetero Healthcare, a group company, will deliver the first set of 20,000 vials within a week in two equal lots, in order to meet emergency requirements. The first lot of 10,000 vials will be immediately supplied to Hyderabad, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra; the next will be supplied to Kolkata, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Vijayawada, Cochin, Trivandrum and Goa within a week’s time.
Managing director of Hetero Healthcare M.Srinivasa Reddy said, “We are working closely with the government and medical community to make Covifor quickly accessible to both public and private healthcare settings across the country.”
Hetero had recently received the Drug Controller General of India’s approval to manufacture and market Covifor in the country. The product is the first generic brand of Remdesivir, which is indicated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in adults and children, hospitalised with severe symptoms of the disease. The drug is available in 100 mg vial (injectable). It needs to be administered intravenously in a hospital, critical care setting, under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner.
Covifor is expected to play a significant role in bringing down the mortality rates caused by COVID-19, given its proven positive clinical outcomes, the release said.
“Through Covifor, we hope to reduce the treatment time of a patient in a hospital, thereby reducing the increasing pressure on the medical infrastructure, overburdened currently due to accelerating COVID-19 infection rates,” Mr.Reddy said.
