Waiting for the drug

More than 397,000 people across the world have died till date due to Covid-19, yet a cure seems to be nowhere in sight. While around 150 drugs are undergoing rigorous trials and study, Gilead Sciences Inc., an American biopharmaceutical company claimed to come closest to cracking this code.
Remdesivir, an antiviral drug designed by Gilead to treat Ebola proved itself effective on Covid-19 patients. The result of a trial of the drug showed an increased speed of recovery by up to 4 days. The result of this trial was accidentally posted on the World Health Organisation's website a couple of weeks ago and quickly taken down too. The test was marked 'preliminary'. However, fate seemed more lost when further tests of the drug conducted in China failed to show any remarkable improvements in the patient.
As of now, Remdesivir still stands as the most effective drug to cure Covid-19 as it has helped patients with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in the past.
A week ago India had approved Remdesivir for emergency use in treating Covid-19 patients. India's health ministry approved it as the first drug to show improvement in Covid-19 patients in its clinical trials. However, despite the rapid rise in deaths and approval to use the drug in hand, the patients in India are still waiting for the drug to be available. As much as five companies are awaiting approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
The companies awaiting the green flag have signed agreements with Gilead to manufacture and distribute the drug in around 127 countries, putting light on the fact that all those are counting for its availability. As of today, the manufacturers are ready with raw materials for production of the same. Meanwhile, the DCGI has asked these companies to submit data from animal toxicity studies, stability studies and test licenses as all of these companies have only submitted the data analysis handed out by Gilead themselves.
As this conversation happens, one can only hope that this doesn't turn out a wasteful one where a government authority and a private manufacturer keep putting the ball on each other's turf. The number of cases doesn't seem to slow down by the day and the availability of such a drug in the market is the need of the hour.

Comments

Tale of Koovagam: The Transgender Festival of India

Every year for 18 days, the otherwise sleepy village of Koovagam comes alive. Dance, music, lights, and prayers, the scintillating display of the utmost celebration of the transgender community in the country come together here to the Koovagam festival. Celebrated in the month of Chaitra according to the Hindu calendar (April/May), the one-of-its-kind festival in India challenges the extreme summer heat and brings together an oppressed community. The festival which gains more popularity by each year is attended by transgender people and a larger LGBTQI community from across India, Sri Lanka, and even Southeast Asian countries. Koovagam village located about 25 km away from Villupuram District of Tamil Nadu is home to the Koothandavar Temple is the place where this festival is primarily held. With a history dating back centuries, Lord Aravan is believed to be one of the core elements of this festival. Various mythological stories are told here that sheds light on the...

Home to the Kerala Blasters

It was nonetheless heart-wrecking as a football fan from Kochi to hear that Kerala Blasters were likely to play a few of their next season's home matches at Kozhikode's EMS Corporation Stadium, which is currently the base of I League outfit Gokulam Kerala FC. From the inception of ISL in 2014, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium near Kaloor in Kochi has been Kerala Blasters' home ground, where the players enjoyed playing in front of the formidable 'Manjappada.' Famed for passion, Manjappada is currently ISL's biggest fan base and quickly growing to be noticed on the international base. Even as there is no doubt in the passion of the fans or the players, the management's actions in the past few years have been very much questionable. The Kerala Blasters management reportedly held discussions with representatives from the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation on Wednesday (June 3) to carry out a few structural changes required for Kozhikode's EMS Corporat...

Hope and redemption in "The Shawshank Redemption"

"The Shawshank Redemption" has a non-secular touch at some point in the movie as Warden Norton believes to have confidence in two things-“discipline and the Bible”. When the Warden first addresses Andy he cites from the Bible "Salvation lies within" which isn't said again in the movie until the scene where Andy escapes and the Warden reveals it from inside the inward cover of the Bible which Andy used to hide the rock hammer he used by making a hollow cavity between the pages. The Shawshank Redemption is a parallel among the biblical lessons and a movie. The story makes use of an individual’s journey of existence to portray problems based on the principles - hope and redemption. Hope Andy struggle inside the cage that is the prison until he eventually breaks free leaving his friend Red behind, who's later paroled. One day Red decides to walk away from his job in search of a field. Andy had once told Red about a hidden box beneath a volcanic rock...

Old Monk

Search This Blog