The Department of Drug Administration (DDA) under the Ministry of Health and Population has signed a consignment deal with Indian company Mylan to import Remdesivir, an antiviral injection used to treat COVID-19 patients with serious symptoms reports The Rising Nepal, government-owned Daily.

Santosh KC, an information officer and senior drug administrator at the DDA, said that some 538 vials of the medicine would be available to the patients and hospitals by today (Friday) says the daily.

“As per the consignment agreement, KC said, the medicine will be available for patients at a cost of Rs. 7,600." He added that the cost will be even less for hospitals.

While the governments across the world have been striving to invent a vaccine against the COVID-19, the Remdesivir anti-viral injection, originally formulated for the Treatment of Ebola in 2009, has been helpful in curing the coronavirus infection.

Although used as a medication against Ebola, it was later found out that Remdesivir had a broad-spectrum anti-viral medicine.

There has been a lot of issue regarding the cost of the Remdesivir. The medicine will be available for use at the same price that the country of origin, i.e., India, said KC.

He added that the medicine will be provided to both the private and government level-2 and level-3 COVID-19 special hospitals in line with the protocols issued by the Nepal Medical Council.

KC said that the antiviral injection would be given to the patients only if they want. “The medicine is considered to be effective for a speedy recovery from the SARS-Cov-2 infection. It is used only on those virus-infected patients who are admitted to the ICU and who have reduced oxygen saturation in the body due to the infection,” he added.

Based on the report published in The Rising Nepal