ISLAMABAD: The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza, on Saturday said tocilizumab (actemra) and remedesivir injections used for management of Covid-19 patients were being made available by the government.
Chairing a meeting on the issue here, he said those medicines would be given to critically ill patients through a robust mechanism to meet the needs of various hospitals, and over-charging of the actemra injection would not be allowed.
Taking cognizance of short supply reports of these injections, he said the government had taken immediate action and after extensive efforts there was an improvement in availability status of the tocilizumab injection.
Dr Mirza said overcharging on the approved prices of the life-saving injection would not be allowed.
The approved maximum retail price (MRP) for actemra (tocilizumab) 80mg injection was Rs 11,952 per vial, whereas Rs 29,882 for actemra 200 mg injection vial, and Rs 59,764 for actemra 400 mg injection vial.
Strict action will be taken against elements involved in the sale of over-charging or black marketing of life-saving drugs in accordance with the DRAP Act, 2012.
He said masses were encouraged to inform the DRAP on its toll-free number 0800-03727 in case they had been over-charged for actemra injection.
He added that directions had been issued to the National Task Force on Eradication of Spurious and Sub-standard Drugs to apprehend black marketers and overcharging elements on approved prices of tocilizumab injection.
Tocilizumab injection is a humanized monoclonal antibody that is ordinarily used as an immune suppressant agent in rheumatoid arthritis.
The National Clinical Management Guidelines have included it for use in treatment of critically ill patients of the Covid-19 who have cytokine release storm (a condition, which a subset of critically ill Covid patients can develop and is established through certain laboratory tests).
However, its availability remained an issue as it was being imported from Japan only.
In order to resolve shortage, the DRAP has approved import of Tocilizumab injection from the United States of America as well.
Multiple consignments have been arrived of the injection; however, it will be made available through authorised distributor only.
Hospitals and institutions treating critically ill Covid-19 patients can contact Roche Company on 0304-1111085 for availability of this injection.
Another important medicine, remdesivir, is a relatively new antiviral medicine recommended to use in moderate to severe disease by Pakistan's National Clinical Management Guidelines and has been shown to shorten the duration of the illness.
In the Drug Registration Board meeting held on 8th and 11th June, two importers and 12 local manufacturers of remedesivir have been approved for market authorization. The approvals would allow larger quantities to be made available.
After the approval of medicines for emergency registration, the Drug Pricing Committee of the DRAP held an emergency meeting today on the request of Dr Mirza, to fix maximum price for remedesvir, a statutory requirement in accordance with drug pricing policy 2018, and will be soon approved by the federal government.
Information regarding remedesivir registration status can be obtained from the DRAP's toll free number.
The Government of Pakistan is also planning to import and provide these lifesaving medicines for the patients who cannot afford these medicines as "we consider this the State's responsibility", said Dr Mirza.
To remove any confusion, it is important to clarify that till now, importers were bringing very limited number of remdesivir vials on individual patient-needs base, which is a special arrangement under the drug law. But after the recent approvals, now importers will be able to import relatively large quantities, which will enable us to overcome any shortages.
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