DRAP cuts Covid drug Remdesivir’s price
An ampule of Gilead Sciences COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir is pictured during a news conference at the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, Germany. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) has reduced the price of Remdesivir, a drug commonly used to treat coronavirus.
Through a formal notification, the authority has fixed the price at Rs2,308 per 100mg infusion and powder.
The price of the said drug was fixed at Rs9,244 in October 2020. Its price was further reduced in December the same year to Rs3,564.
The antiviral drug has been used to treat coronavirus patients in many countries across the world.
It was the first drug to be approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2020. Various studies have indicated the efficacy of combining it with other drugs.
Further, Pakistan reported less than 10 daily deaths for nearly a week.
The country reported seven additional fatalities in the last 24 hours, marking it the sixth straight day that deaths remained below 10.
Moreover, 723 new cases have also been reported. The national positivity rate stands at 1.8 per cent.
A total of 334 cases and four deaths were reported in Sindh, 147 cases in Punjab, 167 cases and three deaths in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 24 cases in Balochistan, 31 in Islamabad, 10 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 10 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.