10 pharma companies to make Black Fungus drug

May 21, 2021 15:53

A Black Fungus infected patient in Hyderabad

The Union Health Ministry on Friday said licenses have been given to five more manufactures for production of Amphotericin-B, used in the treatment of black fungus, and they will start producing 1,11,000 vials of the drug per month from July.

Efforts are being made to supplement the domestic availability of the anti-fungal drug through import, the ministry said, adding that 3,63,000 vials of Amphotericin-B will be imported in May, resulting in the total availability of 5,26,752 vials (inclusive of the domestic production) in the country.

It said 3,15,000 vials will be imported in June and along with the domestic supply, the countrywide availability of Amphotericin-B will be enhanced to 5,70,114 vials in June.

Several states and union territories have reported an increasing number of patients suffering from COVID complications in the recent days in the form of Mucormycosis, popularly known as black fungus, the ministry said in a statement.

There is also a reported shortage of Amphotericin-B, it stated. The Union Health Ministry along with the Department of Pharmaceuticals and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) are making proactive efforts for significantly ramping up domestic production of Amphotericin-B drug, it said.

The Union government has also made effective efforts in supplementing the domestic availability through securing supply from global manufacturers, the statement said.

The five manufacturers which have been given the license to produce the Amphotericin-B within the country are NATCO Pharmaceuticals, Hyderabad, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Vadodara, Gufic Biosciences Ltd, Gujarat, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Pune and Lyka in Gujarat. These companies will start producing 1,11,000 vials of Amphotericin-B per month from July this year, the statement said

There are five existing manufacturers of Amphotericin-B in the country and one importer -- Bharat Serums & Vaccines Ltd, BDR Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Sun Pharma Ltd, Cipla Ltd, Life Care Innovations and Mylan Labs (importer).

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