Amneal running out of hydroxychloroquine raw material due to Finnish restrictions

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

BIG STORY 12 APRIL 10, 2020 / 11:20 AM / UPDATED 10 MINUTES AGO

Exclusive: Amneal running out of hydroxychloroquine raw material due to Finnish restrictions

Michael Erman, Anne Kauranen
4 MIN READ

NEW YORK/HELSINKI (Reuters) - Amneal Pharmaceuticals could soon run out of the raw ingredients to make more of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine that has been touted as a potential treatment for COVID-19 because Finland is keeping the drug for domestic use, according to the generic drugmaker’s chief executives.

Amneal has committed to producing about 20 million hydroxychloroquine tablets by mid-April, but will face challenges making any more after that because of difficulties acquiring active pharmaceutical ingredients from its supplier in Finland, co-CEOs Chirag and Chintu Patel said in an interview.

“As the demand has increased all across the globe... the Finnish government has put out an emergency order to prioritize their domestic use for local needs,” co-CEO Chintu Patel said in an interview on Tuesday.

Hydroxychloroquine is a decades-old drug promoted by many, including U.S. President Donald Trump, as a potential weapon against COVID-19. It has become a standard of care in areas of the United States hit hard by the pandemic, even though doctors prescribing it have no idea whether it works.

Demand for the drug has soared worldwide and some countries, like India, have placed restrictions on its export. Amneal currently manufactures hydroxychloroquine in India and the brothers said the company was working with India to provide an exception to ship its finished product to the U.S.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-amneal-exclusive/exclusive-amneal-running-out-of-hydroxychloroquine-raw-material-due-to-finnish-restrictions-idUSKCN21S1LE

[gordianot]

1. As planned.

[jberryhill]

3. There is zero reliable evidence it is of any therapeutic value

Numerous places that were testing it have discontinued its use.

[ananda]

4. And lots of evidence that it has very dangerous effects ..

.. on many who have heart trouble or other underlying
health conditions.

[at140]

2. India has 12 times density of population as United States and 4 times as many people

Yet their death rate from covid-19 is minuscule in comparison. The 600 million cell phone owners in India would not be quiet if people were dying en masse.