CDSCO approves emergency use of Remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment

Addressing a press conference, Lav Agarwal, joint secretary to the Union Health Ministry, said that the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has given its approval to the use of Remdesivir - a broad-spectrum antiviral medication developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences - for treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases on an emergency basis in the country.

New Delhi: India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has given its approval to the use of Remdesivir - a broad-spectrum antiviral medication developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences - for treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases on an emergency basis.

"The drug regulator has given the permission to use Remdesivir on an emergency basis and for this certain protocols have also been completed," said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary to the Union Health Ministry.

Remdesivir is one of the most prominent drugs in the World Health Organisation's global clinical trial list to find a cure for Covid-19. India, however, has been using Hydroxy-chloroquine as prophylaxis for Covid-19.

Sources said that the drug will be imported by Mumbai-based Klinera Global Services.

On India under-reporting its COVID-19 cases, Agarwal, said that the country is comparatively in a better position in its fight against Covid-19. He said that there is no under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths in India. "States are doing casualty assessment and attributing the cause of death accordingly," Agarwal said.

He said that 14 countries with a cumulative population almost equal to that of India have reported 55.2 times more Covid-19 deaths.

"From 11.42 percent on April 15, India's Covid-19 recovery rate jumped to 48.07 percent as on June 2," said Agarwal.

On Covid-19 fatality rate, Agarwal said, "From 3.30 percent on April 15, country's fatality rate has come down to 2.82 percent as on June 2."

He said that people with co-morbidities account for 73 percent of Covid-19 deaths in India.

"India's Covid-19 case fatality rate per lakh population is 0.41 percent as against 4.9 percent globally," said Agarwal.

One in every two Covid-19 deaths in India have been that of a senior citizen, who constitute 10 percent of India's population.

"10 percent of India's population accounts for 50 percent of India's Covid-19 linked deaths," said Agarwal.

While stressing that the preventive measures taken by the country to curtail Covid-19 have been effective, Dr Nivedita, a senior scientist with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said that they are conducting sero-surveillance tests with 34,000 people to ascertain the existence of community transmission in the country.

Till date, ICMR has conducted 39,66,075 tests.