According to the agreement the companies Cipla, Hetero Labs,
Jubilant Life Sciences, Mylan, and Pakistan based Ferozsons Labs, to
manufacture and sell remdesivir in 127 countries.
US-based Gilead
Sciences said that it has signed non-exclusive licensing agreements with
five generic drug makers in India and Pakistan to expand the supply of
antiviral drug remdesivir. The re-purposed Ebola drug is being considered as a
potential therapy for coronavirus (Covid-19).
According to the agreement the companies Cipla, Hetero Labs, Jubilant Life Sciences, Mylan, and Pakistan based Ferozsons Labs, to manufacture and sell remdesivir in 127 countries. The stocks of Cipla and Jubilant were trading high on the BSE in morning trade - Jubilant was up about 5 per cent, Cipla 2.5 per cent.
Most of these 127
countries are low-income and lower-middle-income nations along with some
upper-middle and high-income countries that face significant obstacles to
healthcare access. Under terms of the licensing agreement, these companies will
have the right to receive a technology transfer of the Gilead manufacturing
process and can scale up production. This would, however, be subject to approvals
by regulatory authorities in the respective countries.
India can also
start using the drug on patients on compassionate grounds. The government was
checking with pharma companies on how soon the drug can be manufactured here
for trials.
Gilead had earlier
indicated that it was working to build a global consortium to expand the
production of remdesivir and make it available across countries. The drug,
which is an injectable, got emergency approval from the US
drug regulator recently. The trials show that patients administered with
remdesivir recover faster than others. However, remdesivir remains an
investigational drug and has not been approved by the USFDA.
Hetero chairman B
Partha Saradhi Reddy said that this agreement illustrates the significance of
global collaboration and the need to come together to fight the health crises
impacting humanity. "Hetero has developed this product in India and has
already been working with the government, ICMR, and DCGI for necessary studies
and approvals to bring this product to treat COVID-19 patients in India,"
he added. It will make remdesivir in its Hyderabad facility which has USFDA and
EU approvals. Hetero has developed a fully vertically integrated supply chain
for this product.
No comments:
Post a Comment