Egypt’s PM, Health Min. review drug makers’ efforts amid coronavirus crisis, ways to boost industry – Egypttoday

Egypt’s PM, Health Min. review drug makers’ efforts amid coronavirus crisis, ways to boost industry – Egypttoday

CAIRO - 27 July 2020: Drug makers managed to bring to Egypt some medicine that helps treat coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, in order to be manufactured in the country, Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Monday, in a meeting with the prime minister.

The meeting was attended by many officials, including the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar.

This comes few weeks after Egypt's 23-year old drug manufacturer Eva Pharma announced starting producing antiviral Remdesivir as the first expected therapy for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Reuters reported.

Producing the Ebola drug, Remdesivir, Eva Pharma becomes the first licensed manufacturer of this treatment in the African continent. The company said earlier in June it received a license from the US-based Gilead Sciences, which made Remdesivir, to start production and distribution to 127 countries.

Eva Pharma will produce 500,000 doses of the drug per month to be sold locally, general manager Amgad Talaat said, adding that it will cost less than LE 2,000 ($124.07) each. The drug was sent to quarantine hospitals, Talaat added.

During the Monday meeting, Prime Minister Mustafa MAdbouli urged officials to follow up on global attempts to develop a coronavirus vaccine and to coordinate to ensure an appropriate share of