There are some speculations started for past few days that Dr. Reddy's Lab (DRL) is creating generic version of Remdesivir which is patent of Gilead Sciences. On which GV Prasad, CEO and Co-Chairman of Dr Reddy’s Lab told CNBC-TV18 that they had no rights to work on a generic version of Remdesivir because Gilead still owned the patent.
A University of Chicago hospital participating in a study of the antiviral medication said it is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week, according to STAT news.
GV Prasad told to CNBC-TV18 that they are working on production of some off patented drug like Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) which is now widely available in India, and it is also under trial for COVID-19.
Even DRL was not in talk with Gilead for contract manufacturing or for any other possibilities for Remdesivir.
DRL is not producing HCQ for India but they are producing it in US. There is a shortage for API for DRL as their API supplier is based in the Europe.
He further said that, "India is producing enough quantity of HCQ and India is able to support many other countries with HCQs. IPCA and Zydus are big player in this segment and few others also. Therefore, this product will not short in India."
