Covifor, the generic version of COVID-19 drug Remdesivir, will be available in India for Rs 5,400 per 100 mg vial, Hyderabad-based Hetero Labs announced on June 24.

For our comprehensive coverage and latest updates on COVID-19 click here.

Following the approval to Covifor by the Drug Controller General of India , Hetero Healthcare Ltd, a group company of Hetero, announced that it is set to deliver the first set of 20,000 vials. They will be made available in two equal lots of 10,000 each. One lot will be immediately supplied to Hyderabad, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra while the other lot will be supplied to Kolkata, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Vijayawada, Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram and Goa within a week to meet the emergency requirements, the company said.

"Through Covifor, we hope to reduce the treatment time of a patient in a hospital, thereby reducing the increasing pressure on the medical infrastructure, overburdened currently due to accelerating COVID-19 infection rates. We are working closely with the government and medical community to make Covifor quickly accessible to both public and private healthcare settings across the country," said the Managing Director, Hetero Healthcare.

Covifor is the first generic brand of Remdesivir which is indicated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in adults and children, hospitalised with severe symptoms of the disease. The drug is available in 100 mg vial (injectable). It needs to be administered intravenously in a hospital, or critical care setting, under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner. Covifor is anticipated to play a significant role in bringing down the mortality rates caused by COVID-19, given its proven positive clinical outcomes, the company added.