India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
New Delhi, May 14: The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre whether demand for COVID-19 drug Tocilizumab, which is in short supply, would be reduced if drug major Roche provides its new antibody cocktail that has been approved for emergency use in India for coronavirus patients.
The court also asked the Centre what quantities of the antibody cocktail would be required for the purpose of reducing demand for Tocilizumab.
The query was posed to the government by Justice Prathiba M Singh after Roche India, which supplies Tocilizumab in India, told the court it can only endeavour to supply the medicine and cannot assure to meet the market demand for the same, even though patients are willing to pay for it.
The court noted that the global manufacturing figures of the drug have not been filed before it by Roche despite specific directions.
Another reason given by Roche for not being…