Drug firm Hetero on Monday stated it has received emergency use authorisation from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for its biosimilar version of Tocilizumab for remedy of COVID-19 in hospitalised adults. The business will market place the drug below the brand name ‘Tocira’, Hetero stated in a statement.
This authorisation will allow health-related practitioners to use the drug for the remedy of COVID-19 in hospitalised adults who are getting systemic corticosteroids and need supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, it added.
“This approval is extremely crucial for supply security in India considering a global shortage of Tocilizumab. We will be working closely with the government to ensure equitable distribution,” Hetero Group Chairman, B Partha Saradhi Reddy stated. Tocira will be marketed by Hetero’s associate business Hetero Healthcare in India.
Hetero’s biologics arm, Hetero Biopharma will manufacture the drug at its committed biologics facility, based at Jadcherla in Hyderabad, the statement stated. The company’s Tocilizumab 400mg/20ml is the biosimilar version of Roche’s Actemra/RoActemra, and will be readily available from September-finish, it added.