Due to the frightening spikes in COVID-19 cases and lack of remdesivir, pharmaceutical companies started illegally selling the antiviral drug in the black market in different states such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and several other states for vials sold in the black market for Rs. 10,000 to 18,000, when the original cost should be
The police have managed the nab these illegal sales and the prices have now been slashed down to Rs 2,450 per vial now.
India initially was exporting remdesivir but recently banned the export of the antiviral drug to meet the rising domestic demands in lieu of the mounting spikes in COVID-19 in India. The demand for remdesivir continues while India faces its scarcity.
In Madhya Pradesh, Indore, the owner of a pharmaceutical company was arrested yesterday for allegedly selling fake remdesivir injections which is one of the key life-saving antiviral drugs for critical patients with COVID-19 and the police recovered around 400 vials labeled as remdesivir. Around 400 remdesivir vials were found from his car, later tested and verified to be fake by the drug department.
Additional Superintendent of Police in Indore Crime Branch said it was discovered that the accused got the fake vials made from a pharma unit in Himachal Pradesh. The development comes as the country is facing a shortage of the antiviral drug, and several reports of black marketing have been seen in various states.
The accused planned to take the advantage of the drug shortage and make money out of it, said the Police Superintendent. The police officer added that the fake virals were manufactured in a pharma unit at Himachal Pradesh.
Remdesivir is considered a key antiviral drug in the fight against Covid19. In India, remdesivir was first manufactured in 1984 by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, used effectively to treat hepatitis C and HIV.
The exorbitant black-market prices have enraged many citizens because the country is undergoing a health emergency with spiraling coronavirus cases with an unprecedented high number of spikes, alarming rising deaths, and dearth of oxygen, remdesivir, and vaccines.
India initially was exporting remdesivir but recently banned the export of the antiviral drug to meet the rising domestic demands in lieu of the mounting spikes in COVID-19 in India. The demand for remdesivir continues while India faces its scarcity.
Anger towards selling fake vials and also the black market prices is upsetting people.
There are demons who lurk among us. I am sure he knows #Remdesivir is administered only to the very critical, and yet he does this.
The late Ms Sushma Swaraj had called for capital punishment for such psychopaths. I agree, because this is terrorism by another name. VILE. https://t.co/hPsEPkTyNm
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) April 16, 2021