New Delhi, June 25: Hyderabad-based drugmaker Hetero has sent 20,000 vials of generic version of the experimental COVID-19 drug Remdesivir to five states including Maharashtra and Delhi. Hetero has received the approval to manufacture and market COVIFOR by the Union Ministry.

Apart from Maharashtra and Delhi, Hetero has announced that the first batch will also be sent to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Telangana which are among the leading states in coronavirus tally. However, COVIFOR will be first received in New Delhi and Mumbai. As per details, Hetero has set a target to produce one lakh COVIFOR vials in two-three weeks. Cipla’s COVID-19 Drug Cipremi Set to Cost Less Than Rs 5,000 per Vial.

Apart from the five states, the COVIFOR will be dispatched to Kolkata, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Vijayawada, Kochi, Trivandrum and Goa in next batch. It has been clearly stated that the drug will be available only through hospitals and government, and not the retail channel and will cost Rs 5,400 per 100-milligram vial.

Cipla too, has signed a licensing agreements with US-based Gilead Sciences Inc for the manufacture and selling of the drug. It has said that antiviral drug Remdesivir would named as Cipremi and will be priced below Rs 5,000. Earlier, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the generic versions made by Cipla and Hetero. However, the drug regulator said that it can only be used for emergency use in severe COVID-19 cases.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 25, 2020 02:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).