Oxygen Needed for Remdesivir Production; Shortage Hits Manufacturing Plants

The demand for Remdesivir injection in the treatment of patients with Covid-19 and the discussion of its scarcity has now become a major issue in the country. Meanwhile, the central government has banned oxygen for non-industrial use as the shortage of oxygen supplied to the patients also led to a war-like situation. However, this move has hit the production of Remdesivir.

Companies are reporting difficulties in getting components for the production of Remdesivir. Balaji Amines in Maharashtra’s Solapur, a world-renowned company, has reported such a shortage. Remdesivir injections manufactured by pharmaceutical companies contain a total of 27 components. The major components are produced only by Balaji Amines in India. The three major components are triethylamine, diethylamine, and acetonitrile and diethylamine is manufactured only in Solapur facility. Ethanol and methanol ammonia acetic acid and oxygen are also used for its manufacture. This raw material is sourced from home and abroad.

As the Centre bans the supply of oxygen for industrial use, the production of Remdesivir is also hit, said Balaji Amines Co-Managing Director D. Ram Reddy.

He said that follow-up is underway to sort out the issue. He has sought help from the District Collector in this regard. The administrative staff is also trying to provide oxygen to them.

Now efforts are made to get oxygen from Pune. If this is not done, the components used in this medicine will have to be imported from abroad.

Pharmaceutical companies have not anticipated the second wave of the coronavirus infection. There was not much need for Remdesivir after the first wave. So it is not produced. The second wave is beyond the imagination of companies as the number of patients skyrocketed. As a result, the demand for injections suddenly increased across the country, said Reddy.

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