COVID-19 treatment | Mylan launches generic version of Remdesivir in India

The drug is approved for treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed incidences of COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalised with severe presentations of the disease, Mylan said in a statement

PTI

July 20, 2020 / 15:02 IST

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Pharma major Mylan on July 20 commercially launched 'Desrem', the generic version of Remdesivir drug in India for treatment of coronavirus patients.

The company had earlier said that its Remdesivir will be available in July in India at a price of Rs 4,800 per 100 mg vial.

The drug is approved for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed incidences of COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalised with severe presentations of the disease, Mylan said in a statement.

The company has released the first batch of its generic Remdesivir and will continue to increase its supply across the country in the wake of the rising demand for the drug, it added.

The company has also launched a helpline number for accessing information about the availability of Desrem in India, the statement said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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