Issues statement regrading the same
Roche Pharma has recently issued statement on the supply of Tocilizumab given the fact that India is witnessing a high surge of Covid cases in the last few weeks.
The company stated, “We have observed an unprecedented demand for Tocilizumab (Brand: Actemra) given the significant increase in Covid cases across India in the last few weeks. We are responding to this situation with supplies over this and the coming weeks to meet the immediate emergency demand. However, we are mindful that the current unprecedented demand may far exceed the supplies we can provide at this moment.”
It further stated, “We are working urgently to increase manufacturing capacity and supply by ramping up our production network, as well as actively collaborating with external partners to maximise production of Actemra wherever possible with the goal of increasing its availability. This should enable us to meet future demand in a fluid and hard to predict environment. With the increasing number of infections in India, minimising hospitalisations and easing pressure on healthcare systems is particularly important. This is where neutralising antibody cocktails may play a role in the fight against COVID-19, in treatment of high-risk patients before their condition worsens.
Roche Pharma is working with local health authorities to accelerate an emergency use authorisation (EUA) for its investigational antibody cocktail Casirivimab and Imdevimab in India (based on the data that have been filed for the EUA in the US and the CHMP scientific opinion in the EU). An emergency use authorisation in India would enable the import of globally manufactured product batches to India as soon as possible.
