Covid-19: Indian American-owned pharma firm donates 3.4 mn HCQ tablets

Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate was first synthesized in 1946 and is in a class of medications historically used to treat and prevent malaria.

An Indian American-owned pharma firm has pledged to donate 3.4 million Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate tablets to some of the key Covid-19 battleground states, including New York and Louisiana, joining the war against the deadly coronavirus which by Tuesday had taken the lives of more than 12,800 people in the US alone.

Owned by philanthropic billionaires Chirag and Chintu Patel, New Jersey-based Amneal Pharmaceuticals, which is one of the largest US-based manufacturers, has also announced ramping up production of Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate at several of its manufacturing sites and expects to produce approximately 20 million tablets till mid-April.

The tablets will be made