GAPL eyes to get licence to produce hydroxychloroquine sulfate

Panaji, Apr 10 () Goa Antibiotics Private Ltd(GAPL), a central public sector undertaking, has begun theprocess of procuring a licence to produce hydroxychloroquinesulfate, which has been approved by the US Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) for treatment of COVID-19.

GAPL is a subsidiary of HLL Lifecare Limited under theadministrative control of Union Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare. The company has a manufacturing facility at Tuem inNorth Goa.

"The company has a licence to produce chloroquinesulfate (not hydroxychloroquine sulfate), but we have notproduced it for the last 15 year. However, we have now decidedto get licence for hydroxychloroquine sulfate considering thecurrent demand," GAPL chief executive officer Reju Skaria saidon Friday.

He said that the company has been producing variouspharmaceutical products depending upon the demand.

"We have the capacity to produce two crore tablets permonth. We can utilise this capacity to produce anypharmaceutical product, for which we have a licence," he said.

Skaria stated that there are difficulties inavailability and transporting the Active PharmaceuticalIngredient (API) required for the formations due to currentlockdown. RPSNP NP