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Pfizer has signed a deal with a UN-backed group allowing other manufacturers to make its experimental COVID-19 pill, potentially making the drug available to more than half of the world’s population.
The US pharmaceutical giant said on Tuesday that it would grant a licence to the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, which would let generic drug companies produce the antiviral pill for use in 95 countries, reaching 53% of the world’s population.
Pfizer has agreed to forego royalties on sales in low-income countries, and will waive royalties on sales in all countries covered by the agreement, while COVID-19 remains a public health emergency.
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Health officials said the fact that the deal was struck before the drug’s approval for use anywhere could help end the pandemic faster.
Esteban Burrone, head of policy at the Medicines Patent Pool, said: “It’s quite significant that we will be able to provide access to a drug that appears to be effective and has just been developed, to more than four billion people”.
He estimated that other manufacturers would be able to start producing the pill within months, but acknowledged the agreement wouldn’t please everyone.
“We try to strike a very delicate balance between the interests of the (company), the sustainability required by generic producers and most importantly, the public health needs in lower and middle-income countries,” Mr Burrone said.
The deal excludes certain large countries that have suffered devastating coronavirus outbreaks. For example, while a Brazilian drug company could get a licence to make the pill for export to other countries, the medicine could not be made generically for use in Brazil.
Doctors Without Borders said it was “disheartened” that the Pfizer deal…
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Source : skynews
