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Healthcare

Have tremendous capacity to ramp up dexamethasone production, says Wockhardt's Khorakiwala

Updated : June 17, 2020 12:46 PM IST

Wockhardt has been manufacturing dexamethasone for the last 20-30 years and has "tremendous enough capacity" to further ramp up production if required, said Habil F Khorakiwala, Founder, Chairman and Group CEO of the company.

Dexamethasone, a low-cost, widely-available generic steroid, has been shown to be the first drug that reduces deaths among critical COVID-19 patients.

A large trial conducted by Oxford University showed dexamethasone may reduce deaths by up to one third in hospitalised patients with severe respiratory complications of COVID-19.

“It is basically a steroid and it is anti-inflammatory and Oxford study on thousands of patients clearly demonstrates that patients on ventilator -- about one-third of them -- can be saved and those who are receiving oxygen -- about 20 percent -- can be saved... It is definitely not a cure for COVID-19 but it does save lives,” said Khorakiwala in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

"It is a very inexpensive drug and those may cost less than Rs 10, maybe Rs 4-5-7," he added.

Speaking about the capacity, Khorakiwala said the company's supplies to export market are very limited but it has "enormous capacity" to manufacture both tablet and injections.

"They are widely available. We are making millions of vials and very large quantity of tablets. We are ramping up our capacity further if the hospitals start using this as a routine treatment where patients are receiving oxygen or are on ventilators," said Khorakiwala.

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