FDA action awaits Sun’s manufacturing facility in Halol after it failed to adequately address GMP deviations, though India’s top-ranked drug firm appears to have effectively lowered its dependence on the site that has had a patchy compliance run.

Pharmaceutical manufacturing in India is facing some early stress amid the new 21-day lock-down but both the industry and government machinery are actively engaged and working together to ensure that disruptions are minimized in the ‘pharmacy of the world.’

India has prohibited exports of hydroxychloroquine, though with concessions in specific instances, days after a national task force recommended the drug for the prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Home market supplies of the drug also appear strained for now.

Alembic says it is 'comfortably placed' in terms of inventories and is seeing improving API supplies from China. The only area of some concern is outbound logistics against a backdrop of flights being halted and population lock-downs.

Import alert hit-Ipca gets a temporary reprieve from US FDA for supplies of hydroxychloroquine sulphate and chloroquine phosphate, the antimalarials in the spotlight as potential treatments for COVID-19. But with many firms committing to supplies/donations, analysts appear to be tempering enthusiasm for large windfall gains for the Indian firm.

Development work for antivirals such as favipiravir and remdesivir seen as potential treatments for coronavirus is underway in India, with the former’s off-patent status making it more attractive. All eyes are also on data from a French study which highlights the potential of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a COVID-19 treatment.