April 18th 2020

Russia’s Health Ministry approves using Chinese drug against coronavirus

In terms of its safety and effectiveness it does not differ from drugs previously registered in Russia

https://tass.com/russia/1146713

The Russian Ministry of Health believes that there are no obstacles to using the Chinese drug hydroxychloroquine unregistered in the Russian Federation to treat a new coronavirus infection, the ministry’s press service told reporters on Saturday.

Earlier, the Russian Government instructed the National Medical Research Center for Cardiology of the Ministry of Health to use and transfer to other medical organizations unregistered Chinese drug hydroxychloroquine in the amount of 68,600 packages for the treatment of coronavirus infection.

"From the standpoint of clinical pharmacology, there are no obstacles to the use of this batch of hydroxychloroquine, because in terms of its safety and effectiveness it does not differ from drugs previously registered in the Russian Federation with the same international non-proprietary name," the report said.

"The presence of a GMP certificate confirms the fact that production meets all international quality requirements for pharmaceutical manufacturing," Deputy Director General for Drug Expertise, Scientific Center for Expert Evaluation of Medicinal Products of the Ministry of Health Vadim Merkulov said.

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April 17th 2020

Kremlin welcomes India’s plan to provide medicines to combat coronavirus to Russia

Moscow is pleased with the Indian government’s decision, the Kremlin spokesman said

https://tass.com/politics/1146331

The Indian authorities’ decision to provide Russia with medicines to combat the coronavirus is in line with the spirit of partnership between the two countries, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"Moscow is pleased with the Indian government’s decision to send a shipment of medicines to combat the coronavirus to Russia, and is grateful for it," he pointed out.

"We consider our Indian colleagues’ decision to be an effective step to implement the agreements on cooperation in the fight against the new infection that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached in a telephone call on March 25," Peskov added.

"Moscow understands perfectly well that India, which is also facing tough times due to the pandemic threat, has made this decision based on the spirit of partnership between the two countries," the Russian presidential spokesman emphasized.

Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kuvashev told reporters earlier on Friday that India would provide Russia with medicines for the treatment of coronavirus patients. According to him, the shipment will particularly include paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine. The ambassador added that the medicines were expected to be delivered to Russia in late April or in early May.

NOTE: Hydroxychloroquine is one of the drugs. The other, paracetamol is called acetaminophen in the USA and is the main ingredient of Tylenol