Pfizer Inc said on Tuesday it will allow generic manufacturers to supply its experimental antiviral Covid-19 pill to 95 low- and middle-income countries through a licensing agreement with international public health group Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).
The voluntary licensing agreement between Pfizer and the MPP will allow the UN-backed group to grant sub-licences to qualified generic drug manufacturers to make their own versions of PF-07321332. Pfizer will sell the pills it manufactures under the brand name Paxlovid.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was “disheartened” by the deal which it said was restrictive and excluded countries such as Argentina and China with established capacity for producing generic drugs.
“The agreement will enable MPP to facilitate additional production and distribution of the investigational antiviral, pending regulatory authorization or approval, by granting sub-licenses to qualified generic medicine manufacturers, with the goal of facilitating greater access to the global population,” Pfizer said in a release.
Pfizer earlier this month said the interim data from Phase 2/3 of its experimental antiviral pill Paxlovid which is a combination of PF-07321332 and anti-HIV drug ritonavir, has cut the chance of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of severe disease by 89%.
MPP last month reached a similar deal with MSD for its Covid antiviral pill, molnupiravir, to be made and sold inexpensively in 105 poorer countries. Like molnupiravir Indian generic drug makers are once again expected to be in the forefront to seek voluntary licenses to produce Paxlovid as well.
“This license is so important because, if authorized or approved, this oral drug is particularly well-suited for low- and middle-income countries and could play a critical role in saving lives, contributing to global efforts to fight the current pandemic,” said Charles Gore, Executive Director of MPP.
