South African drug manufacturer Aspen has capacity to produce 10 million dexamethasone tablets every month if requested to do so, an official said on Wednesday.
The steroid, which has made headlines for being capable to treat severely ill coronavirus patients, was originally made for treating patients with tumours, asthma and other respiratory ailments.
In this regard, Aspen said it makes both the injectable and tablet forms of dexamethasone, chief executive Stephen Saad of Aspen said.
According to Oxford University scientists, the discovery of the steroid’s ability to treat severely infected Covid-19 patients was “a major breakthrough.”
Results from a trial by the university showed that dexamethasone reduced death rates in Covid-19 patients by about a third.
Aspen, as the country’s biggest supplier of drugs, has a 22 percent drug market share in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to Saad.
NM/jn/APA