Gujarat Technological University starts facility to verify authenticity of remdesivir

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has developed a method to test if a remdesivir injection dose is real or fake.
Two pharmacy students, Malay Pandya and Nisarg Patel, have under the supervision of Dr Kashyap Thummar developed this method and members of the general public can send samples for verification, GTU said in a media statement.
“This high-pressure liquid chromatography method will detect adulteration if any and submit the report within five minutes,” the statement said.
Police have busted several units making fake remdesivir across the country, including in Gujarat, in the second wave of Covid-19. In one of the cases in Gujarat, an accused made the counterfeit anti-viral drug using a compound of glucose and salt. Last week, the local crime branch of Morbi busted a racket to sell fake remdesivir injections and detained six persons from Morbi, Ahmedabad, and Surat.
Due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, there has been a huge demand for remdesivir. Over the past few weeks, several cases of hoarding and black marketing of remdesivir have also been reported.
GTU vice-chancellor Navin Sheth, an expert in pharmacy research, has sent the details of the method to the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) and the Food and Drugs Control Administration.
“The university has provided all possible financial help to the students. The IPC has so far not come across such a method of testing,” according to the statement. “This is for the first time that GTU pharmacy department has developed a method for efficient testing of drugs.”
The Centre recently announced that the production of remdesivir injections has increased to 1.05 crore monthly.
Before the second wave of Covid-19, 20 plants were producing remdesivir.