ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will soon start production of the antiviral drug remdesivir, which has shown promise in treating the novel coronavirus, the country’s top health official and a pharmaceutical company’s chief executive announced on Friday.
Production should start “within weeks,” said Osman Khalid Waheed, the chief executive of Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd, which will produce the drug. He spoke at a news conference alongside Pakistan’s de facto health minister, Zafar Mirza.
“Pakistan will be among the first three countries in the world where it will not only be produced but will also be exported to the whole world,” Mirza said. It will be exported to 127 countries, he said.
Remdesivir, a drug developed by Gilead Sciences, has grabbed attention as one of the most promising treatments for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 300,000 people.
To expand its access, Gilead said it signed non-exclusive licensing pacts with five generic drugmakers based in India and Pakistan, allowing them to make and sell remdesivir for 127 countries.
“It is a commitment by us and Gilead that this medicine could be produced at minimum cost and make it most accessible,” Waheed said.
Pakistan has recorded 37,218 COVID-19 cases and 803 deaths. Lockdowns to curb the disease’s spread are forecast to will cause the
country’s economy to shrink 1 percent to 1.5 percent in 2020.
Despite a rising rate of infection, Pakistan began lifting those lockdowns last week, primarily to avert an economic meltdown.
Pakistan to begin producing COVID-19 drug remdesivir
https://arab.news/jxgps
Pakistan to begin producing COVID-19 drug remdesivir
- Production should start within weeks, says Ferozsons Laboratories
- Remdesivir has grabbed global attention as one of the most promising treatments for COVID-19
India has told Pakistan to control ‘drone intrusions,’ Indian army chief says
- Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi says at least eight drones from Pakistani have been sighted since Saturday
- Ties between nuclear-armed neighbors have been frozen since May last year when both sides engaged in fierce fighting
NEW DELHI: India’s army chief said on Tuesday that the head of Pakistan’s military operations had been told to control what he said were drone intrusions from Pakistan into India, months after the nuclear-armed rivals engaged in their worst fighting in decades.
An Indian military source said there were five drone intrusions on Sunday evening on the frontier in the Jammu region of Indian Kashmir.
In another incident on Friday, a drone from Pakistan was suspected to have dropped two pistols, three ammunition magazines, 16 bullets and one grenade that were recovered following a search, the source said.
Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said at least eight drones had been sighted since Saturday.
“These drones, I believe, were defensive drones, which want to go up and see if any action was being taken,” Dwivedi told reporters at an annual press conference ahead of Army Day on January 15.
“It’s possible they also wanted to see if there were any gaps, any laxity in the Indian army, any gaps through which they could send terrorists,” he said, adding that the directors of military operations of the two sides spoke by phone on Tuesday.
“This matter was discussed ... today and they have been told that this is unacceptable to us, and please put a stop to it. This has been conveyed to them,” Dwivedi said.
Indian media reports cited army officials as saying the incursions were by military drones.
There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan to his comments.
MAY CONFLICT WAS WORST IN DECADES
Ties between the nuclear-armed rivals have been frozen since a four-day conflict in May, their worst in decades, that was sparked after a militant
attack on Hindu tourists in Kashmir killed 26 men. New Delhi said the attack was backed by Pakistan, allegations which Islamabad denied.
The two sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and heavy artillery, killing dozens on both sides before agreeing to a ceasefire.
In the past, there have been reports of civilian drone intrusions from Pakistan into Indian states along the border, with Indian security agencies telling local media that they had shot down drones that were seeking to drop light arms or drugs.
Pakistan has dismissed these accusations as baseless and misleading.
India also accuses Pakistan of helping what it says are “terrorists” to enter into the Indian side of Kashmir, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in a revolt against New Delhi’s rule that began in 1989 and lasted decades until the violence ebbed.
Pakistan denies the Indian accusations and says that it only provides political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris fighting against New Delhi.
