ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Taking notice of unethical marketing of unregistered anti-viral drug ‘Remdesivir’, the Drag Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has sought a reply from the Pharmaceutical Firm ‘The Searle Company Limited’ over engaging in the malpractice.
The Searle Company imported the drug ‘Remdesivir’ from Bangladesh to treat the fast-growing number of Coronavirus patients in Pakistan following an agreement with Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited, a Dhaka-based Pharmaceutical Company.
The Searle Company also announced to deliver the first consignment of Remdesivir injection for hospitalized patients suffering from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Pakistan.
“Searle expressed its deep gratitude to the management of Beximco and to the Pakistani authorities for their generous & timely support,” the Company said in a statement.
However, over reports of Searle Pakistan having introduced the first generic of Remdesivir for COVID-19 at the price or Rs 20,000, the DRAP clarified that it has yet neither registered Remdesivir of any manufacturer/importer nor maximum retail price (MRP) has been fixed.
The DRAP described as tantamount the violation of the DRACP Act, 2012, and asked the Searle Company to explain its position within two days.
Last month, another Pakistani Pharmaceutical Company ‘Ferozsons Laboratories’ entered a licensing agreement with the US Pharmaceutical Company ‘Gilead Sciences’ for the manufacturing and sale of Remdesivir.
While addressing a news conference in Islamabad on March 15, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr. Zafar Mirza also announced that Pakistan would start manufacturing breakthrough COVID-19 treatment drug Remdesivir under a license from the Gilead Sciences.
The Ferozsons Laboratories has also distanced itself from the unregistered Remdesivir injection imported from Bangladesh and its marketing in Pakistan.
