Wed 17 June 2020:
South African pharmaceutical company Aspen says it has rights to dexamethasone – which has been labelled as an early ‘breakthrough’ drug in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
A breakthrough treatment has been identified to reduce fatalities amongst seriously ill Covid-19 patients. Dexamethasone has proven effective in reducing deaths by 33% when it comes to patients on ventilators, according to a study by the University of Oxford.
Patients on oxygen support were observed to have improved odds by 20% on the steroid treatment. The drug has emerged the victor from the world’s largest trials testing existing treatments for the virus and there is good news for SA citizens.
This steroid is cheaply available from as little as R149 an injection and even produced by the company Aspen in South Africa.
BusinessInsider spoke to CEO Stephen Saad who was confident that there is ample supply to meet local demand: “It all depends on where and when we get the surges. We should be fine for South Africa, (as) we make this in South Africa.” Bhekisisa reported on a shortage of Dexamethasone in SA as recently as 2016 after Merck & Company stopped production.
However, companies like Aspen and Adcock Ingram have all registered to distribute the breakthrough medication. Saad explained that Aspen supplies medicine to countries like the United Kingdom: “The other registrations largely in Europe are manufactured there.
We were able to largely meet the massive surges in anaesthetics in Europe and we were a major supplier of these products to our European patient base.”
“This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with Covid-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general.
“This is great news and I congratulate the Government of the UK, the University of Oxford, and the many hospitals and patients in the UK who have contributed to this lifesaving scientific breakthrough.”
Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize said in a statement early on Wednesday morning (17 June), that the drug had seen a successful trial in the UK and will likely be used in South Africa.
While the full findings of the trial are still required, South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) said that use of the drug may be considered for patients with a confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19 who are being mechanically ventilated.
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