India approves emergency use of remdesivir to treat COVID-19 patients: Health Ministry

The Health Ministry said on Tuesday that Remdesivir has been approved for emergency use to treat COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir is the first drug that showed positive results in COVID-19 patients in formal clinical trials. It was granted emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration last month and has received approval by Japanese health regulators.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, at a press conference on Tuesday said that Central Drug Control Standard Organisation (CDCSO) has given permission for emergency use of the drug to treat COVID-19 patients based on the available evidence.

"The Central Drug Control Standard Organisation (CDCSO) has given permission for emergency use to treat COVID-19 patients based on the available evidence. Remdesivir has been approved for emergency use to treat COVID-19 patients. In terms of what protocol, what doses, it is not available with me now. Particular organisations produce available evidence based on that permission for use is given," said Lav Agarwal.

Earlier in the day, the country's top drug controller the Central Drug Control Standard Organisation (CDCSO) gave Gilead Sciences marketing authorization for its anti-viral drug Remdesivir "only for restricted emergency use" on hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

"The decision was pushed due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. Remdesivir would be available in form of an injection and will only be sold on retail by the prescription of a doctor for hospital use," an official told ANI.

Agarwal said that the Union Health Ministry has advised states to focus on oxygen-supported beds. "We have asked all states to analyse the trajectory of the cases in their respective states. If a state thinks that it needs to set up temporary COVID-19 care centres, it must do so. We have advised states to focus on oxygen-supported beds," he said.

He said people should be aware and should not panic upon if there are COVID-19 symptoms. "We need to take prompt medical advice and follow the advice given by doctors," he said.

READ: Coronavirus Live Updates: Cases at 198,706 on Day 2 of Unlock 1; 48.07% patients recovered

Meanwhile, India's Coronavirus count inched towards 2 lakh-mark on Tuesday. The total number of active cases in the country stood at 97,581. 

READ: India testing 1.2 lakh samples for COVID-19 daily, outreach has increased: ICMR

India Testing 1.2 Lakh Samples For COVID-19 Daily

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday said that the country is now running 1 lakh 20 thousand tests every day for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel Coronavirus, and the outreach of testing has increased due to availability and validation of indigenous platforms.

Addressing a press conference, ICMR scientist Nivedita Gupta informed that India has 681 laboratories that are approved for conducting COVID-19 tests of which 476 are government-run and 205 are in the private sector, as of June 1. The official also said that ICMR is conducting a serological survey to assess the extent of spread of COVID-19 and almost 34,000 people are being tested as a part of the survey, the results of which will be published in a week.

Gupta further said, "We've been using indigenous platforms too for ramping up COVID-19 testing capacity. TrueNat screening and confirmatory tests have now been validated. The outreach of testing has hence been increased since this is available in primary health centres and districts."

READ: ICMR advises states to conduct IgG ELISA test-based sero-surveys to measure COVID exposure

READ: MP: Samples of 1,700 people taken for ICMR's COVID-19 survey

(With Inputs from ANI)