Covid-19: West Bengal to ramp up the production of Hydroxychloroquine

Team Udayavani, Apr 11, 2020, 9:34 AM IST

As the COVID-19 spreads across the world, there has been a demand for an anti-malarial and anti-inflammatory drug called hydroxychloroquine. Now, the authorities in West Bengal are looking to ramp up the production of hydroxychloroquine to meet its high demand.

The only public sector unit that manufactures anti-malarial drug in India is Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited. The company will also apply for a license soon from the Drugs Controller General of India to produce HCQ.

The company is said to be founded by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray, father of Indian chemistry. He had started HCQ’s production but stopped decades ago.

Well, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that it won’t recommend HCQ medicine for Covid-19 patients unless there are satisfactory results.

India manufactures 70% of the world’s supply of hydroxychloroquine. The country has a production capacity of 40 tons of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each.