Chandigarh administration limits sale, procurement of Remdesivir to itself as demand surges

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 1

Chandigarh Administration banned the sale of Remdesivir through private enterprises and restricted the rights to its sale procurement and sale of the drug to its own health department.

The administration said in an order that private distributors and chemists could no longer procure Remdesivir injections. Only Chandigarh Administration’s health department could now procure it from the open market or from the central government. This would then be distributed to government and private hospitals and nursing homes treating COVID patient on “cost-to-cost” basis, the order said. Private hospitals and nursing homes could charge patients the rate at which the injections were procured.

The order comes supplies of Remdesivir dwindled in several parts of the country amid an alarming surge in cases.

Although several experts have questioned the efficacy of the anti-viral drug in treating COVID-19 cases, it remains a popular line of treatment in India.