In a bid to help India contain the accelerated spread of covid-19, pharmaceutical company Pfizer has come forward to announce USD 70 million (Rs. 510 crore) worth medicines as an aid to India.
These are the drugs termed essential in India’s covid-19 treatment regime and will come from the firm’s distribution companies situated across the US, Asia, and Europe, Pfizer’s Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday.
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Sharing a mail sent to all Pfizer India employees on LinkedIn, the CEO wrote, “We are deeply concerned by the critical COVID-19 situation in India, and our hearts go out to you, your loved ones and all the people of India,” while adding, “We are committed to being a partner in India’s fight against this disease and are quickly working to mobilize the largest humanitarian relief effort in our company’s history.”
Mr Bourla also spoke about the discussions with the Indian government to speed up the permission attainment process needed to launch the Pfizer vaccine in the country to inoculate the millions living here. The CEO mentioned about the company seeking an “expedited approval pathway” for the same on Monday through the LinkedIn post where he announced the $70 million donation of medicines to India.
“Unfortunately, our vaccine is not registered in India although our application was submitted months ago,” he said. “We are currently discussing with the Indian government an expedited approval pathway to make our Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available for use in the country,” he added.
Presently, the US, Europe and Asian distribution centre employees are keeping no stone unturned in manufacturing and shipping the drugs identified in the Indian treatment protocol for covid-19, Mr Bourla said.
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“We are donating these medicines to help make sure that every COVID-19 patient in every public hospital across the country can have access to the Pfizer medicines they need free of charge,” he further said.
The company will be working closely with the Indian government and Pfizer’s NGO partners in helping the medicines reach the people who need it the most, he concluded saying.
