Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation ( PCMC ) is set to dispose of huge stocks of now expired remdesivir and other Covid-19 drugs it had bought as part of preparations against waves of infections. Remdesivir vials that were purchased shortly after 2021’s second Covid surge make up much of this stock, all worth a total of Rs 2 crore, a senior PCMC official said. The decision to dump the expired drugs, the official added, was taken during a recent meeting of the civic health department.
Another senior PCMC official said the civic body had rushed to stock up on remdesivir as the drug was in short supply nationwide. “The shortage was particularly severe during the second Covid wave. So we tried to get as much as we could before a possible third.
But since there were no more surges of similar intensity, many of the vials remained unused,” the official said, adding that many civic bodies had followed a similar plan to avoid remdesivir shortages. The official said PCMC also tried to reroute the vials to treat other ailments after the pandemic. “But the demand was not at Covid levels so a lot of the stock went on to expire,” he said.
Remdesivir, made by American pharma company Gilead Sciences, came into prominence after an early trial in 2020 showed it hastened recovery in patients. But by 2021, use of the drug was scaled back after several experts — and the World Health Organisation — said it had had little effect against Covid-19. SV Pratapwar, FDA assistant commissioner (Drugs), said: “Remdesivir has been found to be effective against multiple respiratory-related illnesses.
However, it is not the first line of treatment. During the pandemic, remdesivir was given emergency approval after some studies indicated that it had been effective against the various strains of SARS-CoV-2. So many civic bodies and state governments rushed to stock up on remdesivir vials.
” Civic officials said normally, when they buy stocks of a drug for civic hospitals, there’s a clause in the tender that states the quantity can be returned to suppliers three months before expiry for fresh stock. “But during Covid, medicines were bought without that clause because it was an emergency. There was no such clause in the agreements as the situation was different,” an official said.
As for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), officials said they currently don’t hold any stocks of expired remdesivir. “Even during the Covid pandemic, we had bought only limited stock of the drug. All of it was used up.
And we didn’t have any use for the drug after the pandemic,” said Dr Sanjiv Wavare, assistant health officer and in-charge of PMC’s drug stocks..
