Cipla Doubles Remdesivir Production In India For "Unprecedented" Demand

India has overtaken Brazil as the world's second-worst coronavirus-hit country after the United States, having administered about 107 million vaccine doses among a population of 1.4 billion.

India's Cipla Ltd has doubled production of COVID-19 medication remdesivir to help meet "unprecedented demand" as the country battles a massive second wave of infections, the drugmaker said on Tuesday. India has overtaken Brazil as the world's second-worst coronavirus-hit country after the United States, having administered about 107 million vaccine doses among a population of 1.4 billion. On Sunday, the country banned the export of anti-viral drug remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients to deal with crippling shortages of the medication in many parts. "We have scaled up the production of remdesivir by 2x from the last wave of the pandemic," Cipla said in a statement to Reuters. "Given the unprecedented demand for the drug, we have now further ramped up our capacities through our network."