Beximco Pharma, IFIC Bank, Nepal Bangladesh Bank donate Remdesivir to Nepal

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd, IFIC Bank Ltd and its Nepalese subsidiary Nepal Bangladesh Bank have donated 5,000 vials of Remdesivir injection (Bemsivir) to Nepal Government for treating hospitalised Covid-19 patients.

The medicine was handed over to Ambassador of Nepal to Bangladesh HE Dr Banshidhar Mishra on Thursday. High officials from Beximco Pharma and IFIC Bank were also present and spoke on this occasion.

Managing director of IFIC Bank Shah A Sarwar said, "We are pleased to extend our support to the govt of Nepal in its fight against Covid-19 pandemic. As the Covid-19 crisis deepens, we believe access to Remdesivir would greatly help in treating the critically ill Covid-19 patients. We have been operating in Nepal for more than 25 years and, as always, we want to reiterate our strong commitment to standing by our close neighbour in this difficult time."

"We are committed to doing our best to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and have proactively manufactured latest and evidence-based treatment options for Covid-19 patients. Donation of Remdesivir to Nepal reinforces our commitment to play our part in ensuring access to breakthrough therapies for patients around the world during this unprecedented pandemic," said Nazmul Hassan, managing director of Beximco Pharmaceuticals.

Beximco Pharma became the first in the world to launch generic Remdesivir (under the brand "Bemsivir") upon receiving an emergency use approval from Directorate General of Drug Administration on May 21, 2020.

The antiviral drug, originally developed by the US-based Gilead Sciences Inc, is supplied by Beximco Pharma under the brand name of Bemsivir. The company has also supplied this drug to several countries for saving the lives of critically ill patients on humanitarian ground.

Beximco has been providing the drug for free to the government designated Covid-19 hospitals in Bangladesh from the very beginning.