Enlarge image
Photo: Mark Lennihan / AP
The US pharmaceutical company Pfizer wants to make its corona drug, which is currently under development, cheaper in poorer countries after approval. The group announced on Tuesday that it had signed an agreement to grant sublicenses to generic drug manufacturers for the production of the pill called Paxlovid without royalties. The documents on the drug will soon be handed over to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency approval. According to the company, a clinical study has shown a high level of effectiveness.
Thanks to the agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), the pill is said to be available at a lower price than the original in 95 low and middle income countries, where around 53 percent of the world's population live.
The MPP, headquartered in Geneva, is an international organization supported by the United Nations that advocates the development of medicines for countries with low and middle incomes.
Apparently high effectiveness
The agreement with Pfizer is so important "because this orally ingestible drug, if approved, is particularly suitable for low- and middle-income countries and could play a crucial role in saving lives," said MPP director Charles Gore.
A new corona pill is considered a promising preparation.
According to the manufacturer, it prevents severe disease progression in high-risk patients.
An interim analysis of test results showed that Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospital admissions and deaths in Covid-19 patients by 89 percent, Pfizer said in New York on Friday.
This applies to treatments within three to five days after the first Covid 19 symptoms.
The agreement now provides that Pfizer waives license fees for sales in the 95 poorer countries as long as the corona pandemic is classified as an "emergency of international concern" by the World Health Organization (WHO).
MPP has already reached a similar agreement with the US group Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD).
beb / afp
