Bangladeshi firm debuts world's first generic remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment

The launch of the first copy of remdesivir, an antiviral that has been showing strong potential in treating novel coronavirus patients, has been announced by Bangladesh-based generic drugmaker Beximco Pharma (AIM: BXP), under the brand name Bemsivir.

Remdesivir has recently been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of COVID-19. Based on the US decision, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) also granted regulatory approval of remdesivir. With this introduction, Beximco Pharma is the first company in the world to launch a generic version of remdesivir in this indication, the company claims.

The launch follows the grant of Emergency Use Authorization by the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), the regulatory authority in Bangladesh, received by Beximco on May 21. Emergency approvals will help to broaden the use of remdesivir in hospitalized patients, especially in developing and least developed countries where access to breakthrough, advanced drugs remains a major challenge.