Homegrown pharma company Natco Pharma Ltd has received an emergency use approval for Baricitinib tablets of 1mg, 2mg and 4mg strengths from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Baricitinib in combination with Remdesivir is used for the treatment of COVID-19 positive patients.
Natco will now request a "compulsory license" based on emergency use and in light of the grave and serious public health emergency across India due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company told the stock exchanges today. Natco will launch the tablet as soon as this week to make it available for suffering patients across India.
India is facing a huge shortage of essential medicines, equipment and medical oxygen as Covid-19 ravages the country. Several countries, including the US, UK, Canada, other EU and Gulf countries, have come out in support, however, patients continue to die due to shortage of essential medicines and medical oxygen across majorly-hit cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
On the vaccination front, India has inoculated over 15 crore people so far. It has approved three Covid-19 vaccines under emergency use -- Serum Institute's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Russian Sputnik V.
Meanwhile, the shares of Natco Pharma were trading 3.35 per cent higher at Rs 926.70 apiece on the BSE.
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