-Dr. Mirza says Pakistani company to start manufacturing Remdesivir after agreement with US company Gilead
-Coronavirus cases rise to 38,437 as recoveries surpass 10,000 mark
-Govt to make wearing face masks in public mandatory
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani pharmaceutical company will start to manufacture coronavirus drug Remdesivir within two months, said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Friday.”American company Gilead has manufactured this drug and it has proven effective in treating coronavirus patients,” he said during a press conference. “It is said that the use of the drug has reduced the intensity of the coronavirus by 30% in American hospitals where they were tested.”
Dr Mirza said that five companies in the world had been granted the license to manufacture the drug. “Among the five companies granted the license to manufacture the drug one of them is a Pakistani company,” he said, referring to it as a “breakthrough news”. He said that the medicine will be available for COVID-19 patients in Pakistan after it is registered within six to eight weeks and manufactured in the country.”
It will not only be available for patients in Pakistan but the plan is to export this drug to 127 countries,” he said. “Pakistan will be among three countries in the world to produce and export this to 127 countries. This is a big breakthrough and this is big news for coronavirus patients in Pakistan, who are increasing by the day and are expected to increase more.”
Ferozsons Laboratories Limited CEO Osman Khalid Waheed said that it would be the company’s aim to sell the drug at the least cost.
Adviser to the Prime Minister for Commerce, Textile and Investment Abdul Razzak Dawood said that it was a proud moment for Pakistan and the country’s pharmaceutical industry that a Pakistani company had been made the licensee of the coronavirus drug. He said that it was the government’s aim to diversify exports and that included pharmaceuticals. “It is not only good news for the people of Pakistan but for countries around the world,” he said.Gilead signs agreement with Pakistan’s Ferozsons to produce COVID-19 drug remdesivir US-based firm Gilead signed non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with five generic pharmaceutical manufacturers based in South Asia including Ferozsons Laboratories of Pakistan to further expand the supply of remdesivir. “The agreements allow the companies – Cipla Ltd., Ferozsons Laboratories, Hetero Labs Ltd., Jubilant Lifesciences and Mylan – to manufacture Remdesivir for distribution in 127 countries,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The countries consist of nearly all low-income and lower-middle income countries, as well as several upper-middle- and high-income countries that face significant obstacles to healthcare access. “Under the licensing agreements, the companies have a right to receive a technology transfer of the Gilead manufacturing process for Remdesivir to enable them to scale up production more quickly. The licensees also set their own prices for the generic product they produce,” it said. “The licenses are royalty-free until the World Health Organization declares the end of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding COVID-19, or until a pharmaceutical product other than Remdesivir or a vaccine is approved to treat or prevent COVID-19, whichever is earlier.”
Separately, in a notice to the Pakistan Stocks Exchange, Ferozsons Laboratories informed that its listed subsidiary BF Biosciences Limited (BFBL) has signed an agreement with Gilead Sciences Inc for manufacturing and selling remdesivir. Top US epidemiologists had earlier said that coronavirus patients who took the antiviral remdesivir recovered about 30% faster than those on a placebo, hailing the drug’s “clear-cut” benefit in treating the virus. The finding represented the first time any medication has been shown to improve outcomes against the COVID-19 illness, which has claimed more than 220,000 lives globally and ground the world economy to a halt.
The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which oversaw the trial, had said that patients on the drug made by Gilead Sciences had a 31% faster time to recovery than those on a placebo. “Specifically, the median time to recovery was 11 days for patients treated with remdesivir compared with 15 days for those who received placebo,” it had said. For Anthony Fauci, who leads the NIAID and has been one of the government’s point people during the crisis, “the data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.”
“Although a 31% improvement doesn’t seem like a knockout 100 percent, it is a very important proof of concept because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” he had told reporters at the White House. The results had suggested that people who were on the drug were less likely to die, although the difference was small. The mortality rate was 8% for the group receiving remdesivir versus 11.6% for the placebo group. The trial began on February 21 and involved 1,063 people across 68 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Neither the patients nor their physicians were aware of which group they belonged to, in order to eliminate unconscious bias. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan has soared to 37,218 with 1,430 new cases of infection reported during the last twenty-four hours on Friday.
As per the latest statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) , overall 13,914 cases have so far been detected in Punjab, 14,099 in Sindh, 5,423 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2,310 in Balochistan, 501 in Gilgit Baltistan, 866 in Islamabad and 105 in Azad Kashmir. As many as 26,260 patients are under treatment at the various hospitals and quarantine facilities of the country, while a total of 10,155 patients have so far recovered from the virus.
With 33 deaths in last twenty four hours, the death toll stands at 803. So far 3,44,450 tests have been conducted in the country to detect coronavirus. On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had emphasized on a friendly awareness campaign about COVID-19.
Chairing a meeting about the coronavirus situation in Islamabad, the premier had said instead of forcing the people to adopt precautionary measures, there is a need of creating awareness among them. Imran Khan also advised media to pursue the people in a more effective way about adopting precautionary measures and implementing the guidelines regarding containing the virus. He had said imposing lockdown is not a solution to the coronavirus and the government is taking its decisions according to the ground realities and condition of the people.
870 new cases of the novel coronavirus were diagnosed and twelve patients died in Sindh over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 255, according to Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. In a video message on the coronavirus situation in the province, he said 870 people turned out to be positive for the deadly virus when 5,566 tests were conducted during this period. Thus far, 113,393 tests have been conducted in the province. The number of people infected with the coronavirus in the province has jumped to 14,916 with the addition of the new infections.
CM Sindh said 533 patients recuperated from the infection over the previous 24 hours, taking the number of patients recovered to 3,606.
He said 11,055 patients are under treatment in Sindh, including 9,651 in home isolation, while 887 are being kept at isolation centres and 517 at different hospitals. 107 patients are in critical condition, of them 35 are on ventilators, he added. Of 870 new cases of the coronavirus, 567 were detected in Karachi, the chief minister disclosed. 356 new coronavirus cases have emerged in Punjab, taking the provincial tally to 13,914, according to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department. Eleven more deaths were reported, pushing the total number of provincial fatalities to 234. 4,720 people have recovered from the virus in the province while 151,247 tests have been conducted thus far, the department said, adding 168 out of 356 new infections were detected in the provincial capital.
Earlier today, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza said Pakistan will soon start manufacturing breakthrough Covid-19 treatment drug Remdesivir under license from US pharmaceutical company Gilead. Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, he said a Pakistani pharmaceutical company has concluded its voluntary licensing agreement with US pharmaceutical company Gilead for the manufacture and sale of Remdesivir. The special assistant said Pakistan is among the five countries with which the US company has signed licensing agreement for manufacturing the drug. He said production of the medicine can commence as early as eight weeks after the necessary regulatory approvals are obtained.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said on Friday that the government will make wearing face masks mandatory in public places, adding that a notification in this regard will be issued soon. “So far, the government has been recommending that people wear masks when visiting public places. However, we have now decided to make it mandatory as lockdowns have been eased. Industries minister Hammad Azhar elaborated on the decisions taken to allow businesses to open.
“When the coronavirus outbreak began, we first allowed shops selling essentials and medicines to open. In the next phase, we allowed the construction sector to open and then almost three weeks later allowed the second phase to commence. “Today, after consulting with the industries ministers of all provinces, we have decided to open the automobile industry, which includes car making industries and their showrooms, motorcycle industries and their showrooms and bicycle warehouses, from Monday. “Currently the wheat harvesting season is going on and this is the peak time for this industry where they make the most amount of sales.”
