Price of COVID-19 drug Remdesivir slashed by 65%

Drug manufacturer, Zydus Cadila, has decided to reduce the price of Remdesivir, a drug used to treat COVID-19 by over 65 percent. With this move, the price of antiviral drug Remdesivir will be available for around Rs 899 for a 100 mg vial.

In an interview to CNBC TV18, Dr. Shravil Patel, MD of Zydus Group said that they wanted to make the drug affordable.

“If this drug is working as it is committed to be, then we wanted to make sure that we make it the most affordable.”

According to Moneycontrol report, the drug which is sold under brand name Remdac will cost Rs 4,500 for five vials. In August 2020, the drug was sold at Rs 2,800 per vial which is lower than other Indian drug manufacturers who were selling anti-viral drug for over Rs 4,500 per vial.

Zydus has a licence from US drugmaker Gilead to manufacture and distribute Remdesivir in 127 countries, including India. Under the non-exclusive agreement, the license is royalty free until another pharmaceutical product or vaccine is approved for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19 by the USFDA or EMA or the WHO announcing the end of the public health emergency.

Patel also said that ZyCOV-D, which is a three-dose vaccine, has moved to phase-III trials and they are on track to file the vaccine in Q1FY22.