Cipla confirms pace of Remdesivir supply picking up to meet demand

Cipla, an Indian pharmaceutical firm, said on Saturday that supply of the Covid-19 remdesivir drug was starting to match with its demand, after the company took steps to increase output in the wake of a major second wave of coronavirus cases in the nation.

After cranking up manufacturing of the antiviral medication last month, backorders and complaints about low availability began to fade in the second week of May, according to the company.

As perthe firm’s Chief Financial Officer, Kedar Upadhye, Cipla’s monthly remdesivir output volume is now 5 times higher than the 200,000 to 300,000 vials seen in the last year.

The drug's future availability will be determined by the pandemic's progress in India, but "manufacturing is no longer the bottleneck," according to Upadhye.

Hospitals also recorded shortages of the drug, which is extensively utilized and was sold on the black market in April for more than ten times its market rate.

According to Upadhye, the number of grievances about supply has decreased, and Cipla is collaborating with state governments to address current supply shortages in certain areas of the country.

Cipla, one of India's oldest pharmaceutical companies, it has a contract with more than 100 countries to produce and supply remdesivir.

Similar deals exist with a number of other Indian pharmaceutical companies. Merck and Eli Lilly have also reached licence deals with the company to manufacture and market Merck's experimental Covid-19 medication molnupiravir and Lilly's arthritis drug baricitinib, which is also being used to treat Covid-19.