The combined efforts of the central government and the manufacturing companies have increased the production capacity of Remdesivir licensed manufacturers unprecedentedly from 38 lakh vials per month to nearly 119 lakh vials per month. 

With accelerated approval of 38 additional manufacturing sites, the number of approved manufacturing sites of Remdesivir in the country has increased from 22 sites to 60. With the help of the Ministry of External Affairs, the manufacturers of Remdesivir are being facilitated for getting supplies of requisite raw materials and equipment from foreign countries. 

All efforts are being made to enhance the availability of the drug both through imports as well as augmented domestic production. Exports of Remdesiver have been prohibited since 11th April, 2021 and customs duty has been exempted on Remdesivir injection, Remdesivir API and Beta Cyclodextrin (SBEBCD) used in the manufacture of Remdesivir with effect from 20th April, 2021. 

Looking at the suddenly increased demand in the country and in order to ensure equitable distribution of Remdesivir among different regions of the country, the central government has been making allocations to states and UTs since the third week of April. Interim allocation of 11 lakh vials was made for 19 states and UTs with high demand on 21st April, 2021 for period up to 30th April. This allocation was increased to 16 lakh vials on 24th April as more supplies became available. With latest allocation issued on 16th May, 76 lakh vials in total have been allocated among states for period up to 23rd May, 2021. 

The state governments and UTs have been asked to monitor proper distribution within their jurisdiction covering both government as well as private hospitals and in line with judicious use as advised in the “National Clinical Guidance for management of adult Covid-19 patients” issued jointly by AIIMS/ICMR Covid-19 National Task Force and Joint Monitoring Group of MoHFW. 

State Governments/UTs have been advised to place adequate purchase orders with the marketing companies immediately for the quantity that they want to purchase out of allocation for the State/UT as per supply plan in close coordination with liaison officers of the companies. 

The coordination with private distribution channels in the state is also to be made by the states. The state governments have also been advised to put in place a mechanism for issuance of this drug to the needy patients and well advertise it among the public in the state.

In addition to allocation mentioned above, a total of 5.26 lakh vials of Remdesivir, which have been received through donation from other countries/organizations and 40,000 vials which have been commercially imported, have also been allocated to states and UTs. 

Remdesivir is a patented drug, manufactured in India under voluntary licenses granted by Gilead Life Sciences USA, the patent holder, to seven Indian pharmaceutical companies (Cipla, Dr Reddy’s, Hetero, Jubilant Pharma, Mylan, Syngene and Zydus Cadila). To augment the domestic production capacity, all the seven domestic licensed manufacturers of Remdesivir were asked to ramp up production quickly.