Remdesivir Export Ban "Half-Baked" Step If Can't Be Sold In India: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court also questioned the holding of exports of the medicine at the ports if the same cannot be diverted to the domestic market for use by patients.

Stopping exports of Remdesivir, used in COVID-19 treatment, is a "half baked exercise" if the units manufacturing it are not allowed to sell it in the domestic market, the Delhi High Court said to the Centre today. A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli also questioned the holding of exports of the medicine at the ports if the same cannot be diverted to the domestic market for use by patients. The court asked the Centre to consider exporting the consignments already held at the docks lest they lose their efficacy and cannot be used by anyone, here or abroad. The observations and suggestions from the court came after the Centre said that consignments at the port cannot be diverted to the domestic market as those medicines do not have the approval of the drug controller for sale in India.