New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) Reinforcing its commitment to provide "sustainable access" to high-quality medicines wordwide, American healthcare firm Viatris Inc on Thursday said the company leveraged its unique global platform to expand access to live-saving drug Remdesivir in India.

Viatris Inc CEO Michael Goettler, in its first sustainability report, said: "With only about half of the global population able to receive essential health services -- a figure further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic -- there is much to be done to ensure sustainable access to medicines worldwide."

The exceptional events of 2020 not only further emphasised the critical relationship between good health and societal and economic development, but also highlighted the many inequities that determine a person's ability to achieve good health, he said.

Goettler further said: "We can make a difference. Across the more than 165 countries and territories we serve, we leverage our best-in-class R&D, regulatory, manufacturing and scientific expertise and proven commercial and supply chain capabilities to bring quality treatments from our portfolio of more than 1,400 molecules to patients when and where they need them."

Talking about efforts made to expand access to Remdesivir in India, Viatris Inc said last year it extended a partnership for COVID-19 treatments with the announcement of a global agreement with Gilead Sciences for the commercialisation of Remdesivir in 127 low and middle-income countries.

In July 2020, the company secured its first approval of the product for restricted emergency use in India as part of the Drug Controller General of India's (DCGI) accelerated approval process in response to the pandemic.

The drug was launched under the brand name DESREM in India at a discount of more than 80 per cent off the branded product available to governments in middle-to high income countries.

"Additionally, to address urgent, unmet needs amid the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, Viatris worked closely with government authorities in India to further reduce the cost of DESREM and ramp up production," the report said.

Developing DESREM and bringing it to patients in India with such unprecedented speed is a testament to the strength of the company's global operations and scientific capabilities and its commitment to serving patients who continue to rely on us during this critical time, it added.

In parallel to its manufacturing efforts, the company said it launched a customer helpline in India to provide information about the drug's availability to hospitals, doctors and patients.

Besides, the company said it provided access to the treatment to patients across 24 licensed markets in India, including places with limited connectivity, to help in the global fight against COVID-19.

The Remdesivir drug is approved in India for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed incidences of COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalised with severe presentations of the disease, it added.

Viatris is a new global healthcare company that was formed on November 16, 2020, through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn, a legacy division of Pfizer.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)