A lab technician holds a box of remdesivir at a facility in Cairo, June 25, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
New Delhi: India said on Sunday it had banned the export of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients after a record spike in COVID-19 cases sent demand surging.
“In light of the above, Government of India has prohibited the exports of Injection Remdesivir and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the situation improves,” the health ministry said in a statement.
Seven Indian companies have licensed the drug from Gilead Sciences, with an installed capacity of about 3.9 million units per month.
(Reuters – reporting by Krishna N. Das and Devjyot Ghoshal; editing by Susan Fenton)
Also read: Remdesivir – a Drug in Search of a Disease