Last checked at 
* Aspen can ramp up output if there is a need -CEO Saad
* UK's Hikma Pharma says can meet short-term U.S. demand
* WHO says it is analysing results for COVID-19 guidance
(Adds details from Hikma, WHO statement)
By Promit Mukherjee and Pushkala Aripaka
JOHANNESBURG, June 23 (Reuters) - South African
pharmaceutical major Aspen could provide 10 million
dexamethasone tablets within a month, Chief Executive Stephen
Saad said on Tuesday after the World Health Organisation
cautioned about the drug's supply.
Results from a study showed the steroidal drug reduced death
rates by about a third in severely ill, hospitalised COVID-19
patients, University of Oxford scientists said last week,
calling it a major breakthrough.
The results drew scepticism and optimism alike and put the
focus on the availability of dexamethasone. It is at the moment
mainly used to fight inflammation in other diseases.
"We would look to ramp up further should there be a need for
additional product," Aspen CEO Saad said, without indicating
current production volumes.
As South Africa's biggest supplier of drugs, with a 22%
market share in sub-Saharan Africa, Aspen makes both the
injectable and tablet forms of dexamethasone.
The South African government asked Aspen to source the drug
for overall usage in the domestic market and the African
continent to help guard against the risk of scarcity if it is
approved for COVID-19 treatments.
South Africa's health ministry last week said the government
had a stock of 300,000 ampoules of dexamethasone.
Aspen had asked the government to indicate required volumes
across the continent, Saad said. "Once they give us a sense, we
can work out the supply," he added, while saying that Aspen had
received orders from WHO, UNICEF and other agencies as well.
UK's Hikma Pharmaceuticals, with a major supply base
in the United States, also said that it has seen demand for
dexamethasone increase "substantially."
"We currently have sufficient ingredients on hand and
manufacturing capacity to supply the U.S. market with
dexamethasone for at least the near future," a spokeswoman said.
But future supply will depend on the amount of demand,
availability of raw materials and the need for other essential
medicines supplied by Hikma, she added, declining to give
further details on production.
WHO issued a guidance last week saying dexamethasone should
be reserved for use in severely ill and critical patients.
"A prospective meta-analysis is underway, including results
of other (smaller) trials. The results will be the basis of any
updates to WHO guidance," spokesman Hedinn Halldorsson said.
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee in Johannesburg, Pushkala
Aripaka in Bengaluru and Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva
Editing by Jason Neely, David Goodman and Mark Heinrich)
