ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza announced on Friday that an American company which has developed a drug for coronavirus patients has agreed to manufacture it in Pakistan.
Dr Mirza, in a press conference, announced that American company Gilead has given a voluntary licence to five companies and one of them is a Pakistani drug manufacturing company
“Prime Minister Imran Khan held a video conference with Gilead on March 7 and convinced them that they should manufacture the drug in Pakistan,” said the SAPM. He added that in the coming weeks Pakistan will register the drug in the next six weeks and the production will start in eight weeks.
SAPM Dr Mirza shared that Pakistan will also export this drug to 127 countries once the production starts.
Dr Mirza stated that the drug is called Remdesivir and the trials conducted in the US showed that the drug led to a 30% decrease in coronavirus patients.
Meanwhile, Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood stated that it was a big day for Pakistan and was in line with the government’s strategy to diversify the country’s exports.
“Our trade and investment offices will be informed at once about this and will be included in their economic strategy,” said Dawood.
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