India has decided to supply the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to 55 countries including the United Arab Emirates. Hydroxychloroquine is seen as a potential drug for the treatment of Covid-19. India has already sent a consignment of medicine to America on the demand of US President Trump.
India accounts for 70 percent of the total hydroxychloroquine supplied to the world. The country has a capacity of producing 40 tonnes of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month. It sits at the equivalent of 200 million mg 200 million tablets. Since this drug is also used in the treatment of ‘auto immune’ disease like rheumatoid arthritis, manufacturers have good production capacity which they can increase at any time.
Ipca Laboratories, Zydus Cadila and Wallace Pharmaceuticalkills are the top pharmaceutical companies that manufacture HCSQ in the country. Recently, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ordered about 100 million HCQ tablets to Ipca Laboratories and Zydus Cadila.
India takes 70 percent of the essential chemicals used in HCQ from China and supplies are stable at present. Officials in the pharmaceutical industry say that there are enough HCQ reserves in the country and companies are able to meet domestic demand as well as exports.
India banned the export of hydroxychloroquine on 25 March. After this, US President Donald Trump asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the phone that India should provide hydroxychloroquine to America. Later he also spoke of retaliation for not supplying the medicine.
