Incepta Pharmaceuticals has stopped exporting Hydroxychloroquine under the brand name ‘Reconil’ to meet its possible demand to fight COVID-19 here.

It has also scaled up production of the medicine that has shown promise, in some cases, in treating the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, said a press statement.

Many countries are willing to import Reconil from Incepta, but the local drug-maker is not currently exporting it considering possible domestic demand.

“Not everyone globally makes this medicine. Now that this product has been repurposed to be used in coronavirus,” the statement said.

Incepta has successfully exported Reconil to the United Kingdom (UK) for many years. It has been marketing this medicine for more than 15 years now.

Reconil is approved by the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the drug regulatory authority.

The medicine has shown promise in treating this deadly disease in various small-scale studies.

Hydroxycholoroquine, initially developed to treat malaria, is largely being used for various auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus.

Keeping in mind the country’s future course of action against COVID-19, Incepta has delivered 3.0 million tablets to the Central Medical Store Depot.

According to the statement, Hydroxychloroquine is currently available in the local drug market.

The pharmaceutical company said it will launch Favipiravir, Ritonavir/Lopinavir combination soon.

It is also trying to launch Remidesivir and other drugs that are being considered as a potential treatment for COVID-19 by many global experts.

In studies done in the USA, France, China and other places, Hydroxychloroquine helped speed the recovery in dozens of patients who were mildly ill from COVID-19.

It is now being tested on thousands in New York. Moreover, an American doctor claims to have cured nearly 500 virus patients using Hydroxychloroquine.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Drug Administration, Bangladesh has instructed local makers to produce this medicine and keep it in their stocks.

“Two pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh make this medicine, but Incepta’s product is the most widely used and popular,” the statement said.

The disease control division of health ministry has published a national guideline for clinical management as a preparation and a plan of response to control the nationwide outbreak of COVID-19.

The guideline mentioned the use of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients with some specific situation.

Various global drug regulatory agencies are advocating this medicine as a treatment for this deadly disease.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorisation of this drug for coronavirus care.

China’s National Health Commission has included this product in their treatment guideline for coronavirus.

France’s Director General of Health has also officially sanctioned prescriptions of Hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.

Indian Medical Association has not only approved this medicine to be used as treatment, but also as prophylaxis for COVID-19.

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