homehealthcare NewsBiocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw: Private labs await SC order before procuring large inventory of COVID 19 test kits
Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw: Private labs await SC order before procuring large inventory of COVID-19 test kits
Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on Monday said that a vaccine to cure coronavirus positive patients would take minimum 12-18 months.
Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on Monday said that a vaccine to cure coronavirus positive patients would take minimum 12-18 months. For now the need is to find drugs that can effectively control the disease with anti-retrovirals, anti-body therapies being looked at to achieve that, the Biocon chairperson said. Shaw also batted for making COVID-19 testing kits less expensive while adding that private labs are waiting for the Supreme Court order before procuring large inventory of tests.
“We are waiting for some information starting today about whether the order is going to be amended or reversed. Having said that, I don’t think the private labs have stopped, but they are waiting for clarity before they start procuring large inventory of tests,” Shaw told CNBC-TV18.
The Supreme Court has ordered the Centre to make coronavirus tests free of cost, irrespective of whether they are taken in government or private labs. The Supreme Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation challenging a recent government order capping the cost of COVID-19 at Rs 4,500.
“They (private labs) are very concerned that if they have to do everything free of cost they will not be able to afford to do so. They will have to significantly scale down their testing which is not a good idea.”
Biocon chief suggested that discussions are on between the government and industry to not just find a way to finance the price of testing, including using insurance companies. But she also said that kit manufacturers need to come up with ways to bring down the prices of these kits as everything is linked to it.
“I think insurance companies need to pay for it. I also believe that the kit manufacturers need to see how they can lower their prices because everything is linked to the price of the kit,” Shaw said.
Responding on the Supreme Court order, Shaw said that the court must be presented with all the facts.
“One of the things that we have come to understand is that the SC has not been briefed properly. So they have taken their decision in haste. They have been given very fragmentary kind of information, not factual and this has been a very emotional and compassionate response of the SC to the way the petitioner basically raised the issue. I don’t think the SC judge was aware for all the factors involved in delivering these tests by the private sector,” the Biocon chief further said.
On coronavirus vaccine, Shaw said, “The vaccine is going to be a long haul for every one of us. It is not going to happen before a year or 18 months at the very minimum. Until then how are we going to cope with the infection and I think the answer lies in finding drugs that can very effectively control the disease. Once we do that I think we will have a lot more comfort to deal with the disease.”
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