Gilead to assist Indian manufacturers with remdesivir production

In response to the surge in India’s Covid-19 cases, Gilead Sciences, Inc. will be providing its voluntary licensing partners with support for the addition of new local manufacturing facilities and the donation of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to rapidly scale up production of remdesivir. The Gilead antibody is approved in India for restricted emergency use for the treatment of suspected or lab-confirmed Covid-19 in adults and children who are hospitalized with severe disease. In addition to providing support to its licensees to grow their local manufacturing capacity, Gilead will also donate at least 450,000 vials of Veklury (remdesivir).

“The recent surge of Covid-19 cases in India is having a devastating impact on communities and has created unprecedented pressure on health systems,” notes Johanna Mercier, the company’s chief commercial officer. “We are committed to doing our part to help tackle this crisis. Our immediate focus is to help address the needs of patients in India who may benefit from remdesivir as quickly as we can by working together with the government, health authorities and our voluntary licensees.”

Gilead’s seven India-based licensees have also been able to boost production of remdesivir by increasing their batch sizes, incorporating new manufacturing facilities and/or hiring local contract manufacturers across the country.