Supply delays, rise in Covid cases lead to Remdesivir shortage

MUMBAI: Remdesivir, the antiviral used in the treatment of Covid-19, is in shortage again, as a delay in the supply of the drug from pharma companies and an increase in the number of new cases have kept hospitals in queue.

In Maharashtra, which has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country, the state health minister said due to batch failures of certain pharma companies, the drug was in short supply.

In India, companies such as Cipla, Dr Reddy’s, Hetero, Mylan, Zydus Cadila and Jubilant have the licence to manufacture the drug. Each of these companies is estimated to manufacture 100,000 vials every month.


“We are finding it difficult to get the drug when we are looking to reorder. Earlier we would get the supply within a gap of five days, now it is taking 10 days,” Raheja Hospitals chief executive Hiren Ambegaokar told ET.

Hakim Kapasi, a pharma distributor, told ET that a shortage situation had emerged this month because of a supply delay from companies such as Cipla.

A Cipla spokesperson, however, said the company’s “supplies are up to date”. Hetero, one of the manufacturers, said the company was monitoring the situation. “With the sudden spurt in the number of cases, we are augmenting our capacities in order to meet the additional demand,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement to ET.