Data from the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister show that the government has given the go-ahead to contractors to import COVID-19 therapeutics such as remdesivir, favipiravir, oseltamivir and lopinavir-ritonavir, all of which will be distributed directly to hospitals treating coronavirus patients.

The data show that by the end of 2020, the government expects to secure 670,000 vials of remdesivir from foreign sources, but expects the drug to be manufactured in the country starting in November.

Remdesivir has been the only therapeutic so far to have worked directly against the coronavirus. A five-day course of the antiviral drug sped recovery in moderately ill patients with pneumonia from COVID-19, drugmaker Gilead Sciences said in a statement.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has not given the go-ahead for remdesivir but gave Gilead emergency use authorization. The drug costs US$2,340 for a five-day course of treatment.

The government expects that by November, local drugs manufacturer PT Kimia Farma could produce 400,000 vials. In October, the government expects to secure 50,000 vials of remdesivir from PT Amarox Pharma Global, a subsidiary of India's leading generic pharmaceutical company Hetero. In September, Hetero brought in 10,000 vials.

Other than remdesivir, the government also expedited the delivery of influenza drugs oseltamivir and favipiravir, as well as antiretroviral drug lopinavir-ritonavir. For oseltamivir, the government has given authority to Kimia Farma and Amarox to procure more than 7 million capsules.

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