‘Remdesivir shelf life now 12 months’

VIJAYAWADA: Assistant Director (Durg Control) K Rajitha refuted the allegations that Remdesivir injections that expired in March 2021 were administered to patients in Narsipatnam Area Hospital in Visakhapatnam district, In a press release, she clarified that Remedesivir injection is a new drug and the Drugs Control General of India (DCGI) had initially given instructions to the manufacturer to fix shelf life and expiry date to six months based on the stability studies submitted earlier by the manufacturer.

“Later, the stability studies are continued and as per stability studies data submitted by the manufacturer, the DCGI has given permission to the manufacturer to extend the shelf life and expiry date up to 12 months. Hence, the version that expired injections were administered is not true,” the official explained.On Wednesday, some news channels carried reactions of the relatives of patient administered with Remdesivir at the hospital, showing that old expiry date was covered by a new sticker.