COCHABAMBA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2020) Bolivian pharmaceutical firm Sigma Corp plans to produce up to 300,000 pills of Russian-developed COVID-19 medication Avifavir per day, the company's executive director, Sergio Pol, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"The production capacity should be at the level of 300,000 tablets per day in a one-shift operation. If we work harder, we can reach the level of 700,000 [pills] per day," Pol told Sputnik, adding that production is expected to begin in January.
Bolivia is among the 18 countries that currently import Avifavir from Russia, with Sigma Corp being the authorized national dealer.
Russian Direct Investment Fund Head Kirill Dmitriev presented the medication in the Latin American market in July and has since secured several deals on its production and distribution.
According to Pol, Sigma Corp intends to export Avifavir to Bolivia's neighboring countries after fulfilling the domestic demand. Export talks are underway to potentially cover Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama and the Dominican Republic, he specified.
"At the moment, with the number of infections in the country, we have no problems with supplying not only Bolivian, but other markets as well," Pol said.
The landlocked Latin American nation currently counts over 140,000 cases of COVID-19 and is at the tail end of its single wave of transmissions that predominantly took place over July and August. There are currently about 35,000 active cases and 8,526 deaths from the coronavirus disease in Bolivia. The health authorities have posted fewer than 200 new cases daily over the past week.
