Experimental COVID-19 drugs being produced locally

A number of pharmaceuticals in the country are preparing to deliver medicines that have been experimented on, to treat coronavirus infection in several countries.

The drugs include favipiravir, hydroxychloroquine, oseltamivir, and ivermectin.

The pharmaceuticals include Eskayef Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Beacon Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Ziska Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd., and so on.

The drugs are being produced as per the directives of the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) and the national guideline for COVID-19.

“We’ve already produced hydroxychloroquine. Soon we will be producing favipiravir, oseltamivir, and ivermectin,” said Simin Hossain, managing director and CEO, Eskayef Pharmaceuticals Ltd. “We want to deliver all the medicines that have been used effectively to treat COVID-19 in the developed countries.”

Earlier, favipir was developed by Toyama Chemical, Japanese Fujifilm’s sister concern, to treat influenza-related disease.

However, on 4 April, South China Morning Post quoted China’s science and technology ministry official Zhang Xinmin to say that two Chinese medical institutions found favipiravir effective in reducing coronavirus symptoms including pneumonia.

The Hong Kong based newspaper said South Korea though preferred Remdesivir, a drug produced by US biotechnology company Gilead Sciences.

Beacon Pharmaceuticals Limited has already produced favipiravir. “If the medicine is proved effective, we will commercially produce it,” said Md Ebadul Karim, managing director of Beacon. “We’ve already imported Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) from China for the drug,” he added.

“Different countries are experimenting different medicines. We’ve been producing and storing all the medicines except Remdesivir. If any of the drugs prove effective and gets approval, we will supply it to the government,” said Rabbur Reza, chief operating officer of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

No official statement was available from the DGDA, though its former director Golam Kibria told Prothom Alo, only after a number of trials the drug control committee of the country approves any drug.

Any commercial marketing of a drug requires this procedure, he added and said as an LDC country, Bangladesh enjoys the privilege to supply drugs without buying patents.