Indian Government lifts ban on the export of Hydroxychloroquine
Pharma news – June 11: On 25 March 2020, the Indian government banned the export of numerous drugs. The anti-malarial drug, Hydroxychloroquine, was also included in this list. However, there were some relaxations allowed for exporting Hydroxychloroquine since many believed it was capable of treating Covid-19. But this stopped completely on 4 April 2020 and the export of Hydroxychloroquine was completely banned since then.
Recently, on 10 June 2020, the Department of Pharmaceuticals announced that the ban on the export of Hydroxychloroquine was lifted. All Hydroxychloroquine API[1] and formulations can now be exported to other countries. It further added that all the manufacturers apart from the SEZ/EOU[2] Units are expected to supply 20% of their production to the domestic market.
During the period between April 2019 to January 2020, India exported Hydroxychloroquine API and formulations worth $1.22 billion and $5.50 billion respectively.
Abbreviation: 1. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
- Special Economic Zone/Export Oriented Units
Daewoong Pharma to start trials on Niclosamide for Covid-19:
Pharma news – June 11: South Korea based Daewoong Pharmaceuticals has been recently testing the efficacy of Niclosamide against the Covid-19 virus. This company claimed that Niclosamide can effectively eliminate the coronavirus from the lungs and proved this via animal studies. It further elaborated that Niclosamide was capable of clearing up the disease in ferret’s lung tissues and also inhibited inflammation. Based on this evidence, the firm plans to initiate the human trials from July 2020.
Niclosamide is also being tested by about three other companies across the globe. However, Daewoong Pharma is the only company that is currently using this drug in dosage forms that are not given via the oral route.
The drug firm plans to complete the clinical trials and get the approval of this drug for treating Covid-19 by the end of 2020. The shares of this company also surged by 48.2% in just three days following its announcement.
Niclosamide is an anti-parasitic drug that is commonly used to treat tapeworm infections.
Reference:
- Pharma News – 18 June 2020
- Pharma News – 8 June 2020(
- Pharma News Update – 10 September 2020
- [1] – Govt approves lifting hydroxychloroquine ban The Week – 10 June 2020
- [2] – Anti-parasitic drug in COVID-19 Times Now News – 9 June 2020
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