Cipla

Drugmaker Cipla has announced that its real-time COVID-19 testing kit 'ViraGen' will be available in the market from May 25. "This will help address the current testing services and capacity issues," said Cipla. The ICMR-approved RT-PCR kit has been developed to increase the COVID testing rate across the country. The kit can detect coronavirus with the sensitivity of 98.6% and the specificity of 98.8% on ICMR's standard scale.

Leading pharmaceutical companies, including Cadila Healthcare, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, and Cipla, have cut the cost of Remdesivir injection to ensure a wider availability of the COVID-19 drug. According to the NPPA, all the pharma companies have priced their Remsdesivir injections (100 mg/vial) in the range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000. Notably, several states across the country have reported a shortage of the antiviral injection.