Mumbai Police raid 2 exporters, recover 2,200 Remdesivir vials

The Mumbai Police raid comes at a time when several states have reported a shortage of the Remdesivir drug as they are struggling to tackle the rising number of cases in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Mumbai Police and Food and Drugs Administration raided two locations in the city on Monday and recovered 2,200 vials of Remdesivir, the drug which is in high demand to treat the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), officials said on Tuesday. As many as 2,000 vials of Remdesivir were recovered from an exporter in Marol in Andheri East, and 200 vials of the drug were found with another exporter in New Marine Lines.

A bottle containing remdesivir. (File photo) (HT_PRINT)

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“These 2200 Remdesivir vials were produced for export but were kept stocked by the exporters as there is a ban on the export of Remdesivir. FDA officials are following due procedure to make these vials available to hospitals,” the Mumbai Police’s spokesperson was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The development comes at a time when several states have reported a short of the drug as they are struggling to tackle the rising number of cases in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government and the opposition are at loggerheads over the supply of the drug. The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis of hoarding the antiviral drug. The Shiv Sena alleged that the BJP was aiding the black-marketing of the medicine. The BJP, on the other hand, accused the state government of resorting to “childish politics”.

The accusations come in the backdrop of Mumbai Police questioning a director of a pharmaceutical company on Saturday following information that thousands of vials of Remdesivir were to be flown out of the country, despite a ban on its export. Fadnavis and another state BJP leader Darekar rushed to the police station when they found out about the company director’s interrogation. After the incident, the Sena raised doubts about the alleged politics being played on the issue of supply of oxygen and Remdesivir injections for treating Covid-19 patients.

Maharashtra is facing a shortage of 18,000 to 20,000 vials of Remdesivir injections daily, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) minister Rajendra Shingne said on Monday. “We need at least 60,000 doses of Remdesivir daily and are currently facing a shortage of 18,000 to 20,000 doses daily. Our problem is the number of patients is increasing daily,” Shingne said.

The state’s health minister Rajesh Tope has assured that the situation will improve in the coming days. “Five companies are producing Remdesivir injections and their production is being ramped up. In addition, we will give pharmaceutical companies in Maharashtra the permission to sub-contract the production of this injection,” he said.