By Anuron Kumar Mitra

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Demand for COVID-19 antiviral drug remdesivir is rising sharply in India, a prime govt at drugmaker Cipla Ltd stated on Monday, whilst consultants stay divided over its effectiveness.

Remdesivir was developed by U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc , which lower its 2020 income forecast final month, citing lower-than-expected demand and issue in predicting gross sales of the therapy. Cipla is amongst a number of corporations licensed to make and promote generic variations in growing nations.

Cipla’s model, Cipremi, was commercially launched in July and prices simply above $50 per 100 mg vial.

“From October onwards, (the corporate is) seeing very sharp improve in (remdesivir) month-to-month volumes … there are not any constraints on provides now,” Cipla’s international chief monetary officer, Kedar Upadhye, informed Reuters.

He stated the corporate had bought greater than 300,000 vials of the drug throughout the nation as of September.

Remdesivir has develop into the usual of take care of sufferers hospitalised with extreme COVID-19, with greater than 50 international locations together with america approving its use.

However the World Well being Group (WHO) stated final month that its international trial of COVID-19 therapies had discovered that remdesivir didn’t have a considerable impact on the size of sufferers’ hospital stays or their possibilities of survival.

“In India, the protocols (on remdesivir) haven’t modified, and demand continues,” Cipla’s Upadhye stated, including that the corporate has additionally begun export of the drug to “a couple of international locations” within the second quarter, with out giving another particulars.

Mumbai-based Cipla, which has already been supplying the drug to South Africa since July, posted a 41.2% rise in consolidated internet revenue on Friday for the quarter ended Sept. 30.

(Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Pravin Char)