With a new license agreement, a pill developed by Pfizer to treat COVID-19 could soon be available to more than half the world’s population.
The New York-based company’s pill includes antiviral treatment candidate PF-07321332 along with ritonavir, an antiviral medication typically used to treat HIV/AIDS. According to Pfizer, the pill is 89 percent effective at reducing the risk of hospitalization when taken within three days of illness onset.
In a press release issued Tuesday, the pharmaceutical company announced it had entered into a voluntary license agreement for its oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment with the Medicines Patent Pool. This United Nations-backed public health organization is working to increase access to life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries.
“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,” said Pfizer.
Through the license agreement, qualified generic medicine manufacturers are to be granted sub-licenses to supply 95 countries with the drug, covering up to 53 percent of the global population.
“This includes all low- and lower-middle-income countries and some upper-middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as countries that have transitioned from lower-middle to upper-middle-income status in the past five years,” according to the company. “Pfizer will not receive royalties on sales in low-income countries and will further waive royalties on sales in all countries covered by the agreement while COVID-19 remains classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization.”
While COVID-19 vaccines – including the two-shot Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – are able to prevent severe infection, some lower income countries have had a difficult time obtaining and distributing them.
“We must work to ensure that all people – regardless of where they live or their circumstances – have access to these breakthroughs, and we are pleased to be able to work with MPP to further our commitment to equity,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
“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.
Esteban Burrone, head of policy at the MPP said drug makers should be able to start producing the pill within months. However, the deal excludes some large countries that have suffered devastating coronavirus outbreaks, such as Brazil, said CBS News.
Doctors Without Borders, an international medical organization, said it was disappointed that the drug would not be available worldwide, according to the outlet.
Pfizer Tuesday asked to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval of the pill for patients age 18 and older.
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