Indian pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy's Laboratories has begun making a generic copy of Remdesivir, a drug originally developed by US-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead. The anti-viral drug has shown effective results on critically ill COVID-19 patients in improving their condition during a multi-country trial.
The anti-viral drug was initially developed as a treatment for Ebola. Gilead earlier stated that out of 53 patients severely affected by COVID-19, 36 showed improvement after being administered the drug.
According to media reports, Dr Reddy's is in the early stages of developing the drug.
The Indian Health Ministry had earlier stated that it was considering the use of remdesivir. The Indian Council for Medical Research, the country's apex body for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, had indicated that the drug functions by attacking enzymes of COVID-19 that are responsible for its reproduction.
While trials on existing drugs such as lopinavir and ritonavir are still underway in many countries, remdesivir is one of the drugs that has delivered promising results.
Another Indian drug manufacturer Cipla also stated that it has began work on an anti-viral drug in coordination with India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has undertaken a programme for research and development (R&D) to accelerate drug and vaccine development for COVID-19.
India currently has 12,380 active cases of coronavirus in the country. So far, 414 people have lost their lives to the infection, while 1,488 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals according to the federal Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
