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
Pakistan’s Mohammad Nawaz among nominees for ICC’s Player of the Month award
- Nawaz scored 104 runs in ODIs and took four wickets and made 52 runs in T20Is and took 11 wickets
- South Africa’s Simon Harmer and Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam are other two nominees for the award
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Mohammad Nawaz is among three of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) nominees for the Player of the Month for November award for his impressive white-ball performances last month, the global cricket body announced on Friday.
Nawaz has been in sublime form for Pakistan, instrumental in the Green Shirts’ tri-series win over Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at home last month.
He amassed 104 ODI runs at an average of 52 with a strike rate of 114.28, while also taking four wickets. In T20Is, the left-arm spinner added 52 runs and claimed an impressive 11 wickets at just 12.72 last month.
“His match-winning 3-17 in the final against Sri Lanka capped a standout campaign and secured his Player of the Series honor,” the ICC said.
South Africa’s Simon Harmer and Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam were the other nominees for the award. Harmer claimed a staggering 17 wickets at an average of 8.94 across the two tests against India in Kolkata and Guwahati.
Meanwhile, Islam picked up 13 wickets at 26.30 in the 2-0 series win over Ireland last month, finishing as the leading wicket-taker of the series.
