Two domestic pharmaceutical companies--Cipla and Hetero – have received green light from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and sell anti-viral drug remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the country. Remdesivir is an antiviral drug originally developed to treat Ebola. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had already given emergency use authorisation (EUA) of this investigational drug for treatment of hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19. Earlier this month the DCGI had also approved it for “restricted emergency use” on severely ill hospitalised coronavirus patients. Cipla and Hetero will be required to follow the same