Mumbai, July 19: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Maharashtra on Sunday busted a racket that was involved in black marketing of anti-viral drug Remdesivir. The FDA busted the racket on Saturday night in Mumbai. According to a report by ANI, a total of seven persons have been arrested and 13 vials of Remdesivir have been seized so far. Reports inform that the racket was busted after the FDA officials received a tip-off regarding the black marketing of  the drug in the city. Initially the FDA officials had arrested two people- Vikas Dubey and Rahul Gada. On the basis of disclosure made by the duo, police arrested five men from Delfa Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturing unit based in suburban Ghatkopar. No Community Spread in Maharashtra, Says Health Minister Rajesh Tope.

The seven arrested include Bhavesh Shah, Ashish Kanojiya, Ritesh Thombre, Gurvinder Singh and Sudhir Pujari, the official said. So far, there is no vaccine available to treat COVID-19 patients yet. According to new data revealed by Gilead Sciences, Remdesivir reduces death risk of severe COVID-19 patients by as much as 62 per cent when compared with standard care alone.

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Earlier in the day, there was reports that the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra has placed an order of 60,000 vials of Remdesivir. Reports added saying that the action was taken to curb black marketing of the life-saving drug. The order has been placed by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) following the directions of the Chief Minister and the state government will spend Rs 3,392.48 per vial of Remdesivir.   Maharashtra's COVID-19 Tally Breaches 3 Lakh-Mark With Spike of 8,348 New Cases, Mumbai Crosses 1 Lakh.

Earlier this month, Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh had said the government will buy anti-viral drugs Remdesivir and Tocilizumab 'on a big scale'  to ensure that they are available for the needy across the state 'soon'.  Deshmukh also said that the government will take strict action against black marketeers of the drugs, which are used in treating COVID-19 patients.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2020 05:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).