A subsidiary of Numsa Investment Company has partnered with an Indian group listed in the US to roll out remdesivir - an antiviral drug which has shown promise in treating Covid-19 - in SA from August.

In terms of the deal, 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals (3Sixty Biopharma), a division of Numsa Investment Company's subsidiary 3Sixty Global Solutions Group, has been appointed by Jubilant Generics to supply remdesivir in southern Africa.

Numsa Investment Company invests on behalf of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa). Jubilant Generics is a subsidiary of the Indian company Jubilant Life Sciences.

In an interview yesterday, Numsa Investment Company CEO Khandani Msibi said 3Sixty Global Solutions Group, which until now has been mainly invested in financial services, will be playing an "active operating role" as part of the effort to fight the pandemic, which has so far resulted in 276,242 South Africans being infected and more than 4,000 deaths.

"We will be active in rolling out the drug. It is part of our efforts to contribute to the fight against Covid-19. We've been working with a number of our local and international partners to develop and source therapeutic solutions to fight Covid-19 for SA. This is one of the first such deliveries," said Msibi.

He said 3Sixty Global Solutions Group has diversified into biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, adding these investments were the "way of the future".