14 May 2020 - - Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero, one of the world's largest producer of anti-retroviral drugs, has entered into a licensing agreement with US-based Gilead Sciences, Inc. for the manufacturing and distribution of "Remdesivir" for the treatment of Covid-19, the company said.

Under this licensing deal, Hetero will be supplying Remdesivir in 127 countries, including India, subject to regulatory approvals in respective countries.

Remdesivir will be manufactured in our formulation facility in Hyderabad, India, which has been approved by stringent global regulatory authorities such as USFDA and EU, among others. 

Hetero has developed the fully vertically integrated supply chain for this product complementing the "Make in India" campaign as defined by our Hon'ble Prime Minister.

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorization for the investigational antiviral Remdesivir to treat COVID-19. Remdesivir is authorized for the treatment of hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 disease.

The optimal duration of treatment is still being studied in ongoing clinical trials. Under the EUA, both 5-day and 10-day treatment durations are suggested, based on the severity of disease.

The authorization is temporary and does not take the place of the formal new drug application submission, review and approval process. The EUA allows for the distribution and emergency use of Remdesivir only for the treatment of COVID-19; Remdesivir remains an investigational drug and is not approved anywhere globally including US and India.

Hetero is one of India's largest generic pharmaceutical companies and the world's largest producer of anti-retroviral drugs. With 25 years of expertise in the pharmaceutical industry, Hetero's strategic business areas spread across APIs, generics, biosimilars, custom pharmaceutical services and branded generics.

Hetero has 36 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, 300 plus products in its portfolio and has a strong global presence in over 126 countries.