Russia ships remdesivir drug to India as part of humanitarian aid

Moscow: Russia on Tuesday shipped a generic version of the remdesivir antiviral drug called Remdeform to India as part of its humanitarian aid contributions to the South Asian country which is fighting a surge in COVID-19 cases, video footage showed and a source told Reuters.

This is the third delivery of humanitarian aid from Russia to India during the coronavirus pandemic, after it previously sent shipments including artificial lung ventilators, oxygen equipment and drugs, TASS reported. The drug's patent holder, a U.S. firm Gilead Sciences , filed a lawsuit challenging the Russian government's decision last year to let pharmaceutical firm Pharmasyntez develop a generic version of remdesivir without their consent.