MUMBAI, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- India's Cadila Healthcare has launched Remdesivir lyophilized injection to treat COVID-19 patients, a company statement said Thursday.

The price was at 37.4 U.S. dollars for 100 mg vial.

In June, the Indian company entered into a non-exclusive agreement with U.S. bio-pharmaceutical company - Gilead Sciences Inc., to manufacture and sell Remdesivir, the investigational drug which has been issued an Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat patients suffering from severe symptoms of COVID-19.

The API (active pharma ingredient) for the drug has been developed and manufactured at the company's manufacturing facilities in India's western state of Gujarat.

"Through the course of this pandemic, our efforts have been focused on supporting people in this healthcare crisis, whether it is through developing vaccines, ramping up production and distribution of critical drugs and therapies, making diagnostic tests available or exploring new treatment options," said Sharvil Patel, managing director of Cadila Healthcare.

India is currently the third hardest-hit country by COVID-19, after the United States and Brazil. It has 653,622 active cases of novel coronavirus with 47,033 deaths reported so far.

                                                                                                                       From Xinhua