South Africa, Johannesburg, 26th August 2020: Hetero, one of India’s leading pharmaceutical companies and the world’s largest producer of antiretroviral drugs, today announced the launch of antiviral drug ‘Remdesivir’ in South Africa for the treatment of Covid-19. Hetero has received the authorization from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to import ‘Remdesivir’ under section 21 of the Medicines and Related Substances Act
Dr. B. Partha Saradhi Reddy, Chairman, Hetero Group of Companies, said: “In the light of increasing Covid-19 cases across the world, the drug Remdesivir can prove to be a game-changer given its positive clinical outcomes. Following our successful launch in the Indian pharmaceutical market, we would now like to extend the product for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in South Africa.”
Hetero has been working closely with SAHPRA to import 60,000 vials of Remdesivir to South Africa every month to provide relief for COVID-19 patients till the pandemic is over. This week, the company is making this drug available at all the private healthcare facilities.
Hetero being a committed healthcare partner to the State, supplying it with Anti-Retroviral medicines for the treatment of HIV, has initiated a preliminary discussion with the National Dept. of Health to understand the requirements of the public healthcare facilities and support them accordingly.
Remdesivir Inj is being manufactured at Hetero’s state-of-the-art facility in Hyderabad, India, which has been approved by stringent global regulatory authorities such as USFDA and EU. The facility is sufficiently equipped to scale-up the production for meeting large-scale requirements.
In May, Gilead Sciences Inc. extended a voluntary non-exclusive license to Hetero to manufacture and distribute Remdesivir in 127 countries, including South Africa and several sub-Saharan African countries, expanding access to Covid-19 treatment. In India, Hetero is the first company to launch the generic of Remdesivir and have already supplied around 800,000 doses of the drug, treating more than 100,000 patients.
South Africa has recorded more than 600,000 cases of Covid-19 and around 13,000 deaths as a result of the disease*.
Information about Remdesivir
Remdesivir is an investigational antiviral drug by Gilead Sciences Inc. which has been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The drug has been approved only for the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in adults and children, hospitalized with severe symptoms of the disease. The drug needs to be administered intravenously only in a hospital setting under the supervision of a healthcare practitioner.
*References: https://sacoronavirus.co.za/
About Hetero
Hetero is one of India’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies and the world’s largest producer of anti-retroviral drugs. Backed by 25 years of expertise in the pharmaceutical industry, Hetero’s strategic business areas spread across APIs, generics, biosimilars, custom pharmaceutical services and branded generics. The company is globally recognized for its strengths in Research and Development, manufacturing and commercialization of a wide range of products.
Hetero has 36 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities strategically located worldwide, approved by stringent global regulatory authorities. Our portfolio includes 300 plus products encompassing major therapeutic categories such as HIV/AIDS, Oncology, Cardiovascular, Neurology, Hepatitis, Nephrology, Urology, Diabetes, Ophthalmology, Hepatology and Immunology etc.
Hetero has a strong global presence in over 126 countries and focusses on making affordable medicines accessible to patients worldwide.
For more information on Hetero, please visit www.heteroworld.com.
Media Contact:
Jeyasingh Balakrishnan
Head – Corporate Communications
Hetero Labs Limited, India
Mobile: +91 9989626541/ +91 9833836185
Email: Jeyasingh.b@heterodrugs.com
Caution Notice
Please beware of fake online pharmacies. Kindly note that Hetero does not engage in any form of online distribution or retailing of medicines. Hetero and its group subsidiaries supply the products worldwide, only through their exclusive distribution networks.
