THD NewsDesk, New Delhi: US Pharmaceutical company Eli Lily announced that it would donate 400,000 tablets of Covid 19 treatment to India. It would be applied to the eligible patients of India hospitalized for Covid 19.
The Company said in a press release,
“Lilly is offering donations of Baricitinib to the Indian government through Direct Relief while simultaneously working with local Indian pharmaceutical companies to execute royalty-free voluntary licensing agreements to accelerate the manufacturing and distribution of the medicine in India during the pandemic.”
It added,
An initial donation of 400,000 Baricitinib tablets is being made immediately available to the Indian government for eligible hospitalized Covid-19 patients in India and Lilly will work urgently to increase the quantity of donated product multifold over the coming weeks.
Lily recently got emergency use authorization by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization to use on the hospitalized patients requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Baricitinib is an oral medication currently registered in India for the treatment of moderate to severely active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients who have responded inadequately to, or who are intolerant to one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.
David A Ricks, Lilly chairman, and CEO said,
“With the Covid-19 crisis devastating India, hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of cases and patients need access to potentially life-saving treatments such as baricitinib. We hope that our donations as well as collaborations with other organizations speed access to baricitinib and provide treatment options for these patients.”
The company said that they are trying to help in every possible way and would continue to do so in their capacity.
Source: Mint
