COVID-19: Drug firm Zydus Cadila launches India's cheapest remdesivir version at Rs 2,800

As coronavirus cases continue to soar in the country, drug firm Zydus Cadila on Thursday stated that it has launched Remdesivir under the brand name Remdac to treat patients suffering from severe COVID-19 symptoms.

The drug is priced at Rs 2,800 per 100 mg vial. With the pricing, Remdac becomes the cheapest Remdesivir brand in India.

The drug will be made available to government and private hospitals treating COVID-19 patients through the company's distribution chain.

"Remdac is the most affordable drug as we would like to enable patients to have access to this critical drug in the treatment of COVID-19," A news agency quoted Cadila Healthcare Managing Director Dr Sharvil Patel as saying.

"Through the course of this pandemic, the company's efforts have been focused on supporting people in this healthcare crisis, whether it is through developing vaccines, ramping up production and distribution of critical drugs and therapies, making diagnostic tests available or exploring new treatment options," Patel further said.

Earlier in June, Zydus entered into an agreement with Gilead Sciences Inc to manufacture and sell Remdesivir, prescribed for emergency use to treat severe COVID-19 patients by the US Food and Drug Administration.   

It must be interesting to note that Zydus Cadila is also in the COVID-19 vaccine race. Its candidate ZyCov-D is now in phase II of the clinical trials.

Yet again, India witnessed the highest-ever single-day spike of 66,999 new COVID-19 cases the last 24 hours.

The country's coronavirus tally touched 23,96,638 including 6,53,622 active cases and 16,95,982 discharged.

A total of 942 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 47,033, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With the world's biggest caseload behind the United States and Brazil, India has now reported a jump of 50,000 cases or more each day for 15 straight days.