RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer has signed UN-sponsored licensing agreements with 35 laboratories, allowing the manufacture of a generic and cheaper version of its treatment against covid-19, according to an announcement on March 17. Brazil is one of the countries covered.
Under the terms of an agreement reached with the U.S. lab in November, the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) – a Geneva-based, United Nations-backed international organization – has awarded licenses to 35 laboratories to produce an oral treatment “nirmatrelvir,” against covid-19 to supply 95 poor countries.
These agreements “will give needy patients worldwide access to an oral treatment against covid-19,” said Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer.
Of the 35 companies involved in the initiative, 19 are Indian, and five are Chinese, MPP said. The other licenses are split between Bangladesh, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jordan, Israel, Mexico, Pakistan, Serbia, South Korea, and Vietnam.
A license has also been granted to a Ukrainian laboratory, which has not yet been able to formally sign on due to the conflict in that country.
Nirmatrelvir, combined with ritonavir, corresponds to the Pfizer lab’s Paxlovid treatment aimed mainly at at-risk populations, such as older people, immunocompromised people, people with certain rare diseases, etc.
The tablet is taken orally three times a day for five days. It is recommended to take it as soon as possible after a positive diagnosis with covid-19 and no later than five days after the onset of symptoms.
According to clinical studies, effective against the omicron variant, this treatment reduces the risk of being hospitalized or dying from covid by about 85%. The French High Health Authority authorized the covid drug as a treatment in France in January 2022.
With information from AFP