Hyderabad: Officials from the special Taskforce, constituted to procure necessary vaccines and medicines for COVID-19 management in Telangana, met executives from top managements of various pharmaceutical companies today at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad.
The Taskforce, headed by state industries minister KT Rama Rao (KTR), discussed various issues with the heads of pharma companies that are involved in the production of the COVID-19 vaccines. Among the issues discussed in the meeting were the progress in the development of various types of vaccines by different companies, their production capacities, and the tentative availability of vaccines in the market, said KTR, in a press release on Friday.
Speaking to the representatives of pharma companies, KTR assured all possible help from the Telangana government to expedite the various steps involved in the commercialization of COVID-19 vaccines. He stated that the state government is exploring all possible options to procure sufficient quantity of vaccines for its citizens. The Taskforce team also discussed various alternative treatment options to drugs that are in high demand (like Remdesivir) and has also decided to advise the medical fraternity to explore these options.
Among those who participated in today’s meetings were top management representatives from Natco Pharma, Biological E Ltd, Bharath Biotech, Serum Institute of India, Sanofi India, Virchow Biotech, Zydus Cadila, Hetero Drugs, Gland Pharma, Indian Immunologicals, and Dr Reddys Labs.
The Telangana Taskforce team members include principal secretary ( Industries) Jayesh Ranjan, principal secretary ( GAD) Vikas Raj, chief Secretary (Panchayati Raj) Sandeep Sultania ånd others.
The release from KTR’s office also said that the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation contributed Rs 1.19 crore 19 lakhs towards COVID-19 relief in the state. The cheque for the amount was handed over by EV Narasimha Reddy, managing director, TSIIC, Rahul Bojja, commissioner of the State Disaster Management Authority in the presence Jayesh Ranjan and KTR.