Ahmedabad: Gujarat-based big pharma Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited and Cadila Pharmaceuticals announced on Thursday that they received the license to manufacture the generic version of Pfizer's oral Covid-19 antiviral drug, nirmatrelvir, from the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).
MPP is a UN-based public health organization that works to increase access to life-saving medicines in low- and middle-income countries.
Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited announced that it has entered into a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license agreement to use the patents and know-how relating to the compound nirmatrelvir with MPP for the manufacture and marketing of the generic version of PAXLOVID. . The company will launch the product after obtaining the necessary approval from regulatory agencies.
Nirmatrelvir in combination with low dose ritonavir, for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 at high risk of progressing to severe disease, has shown a significant reduction in hospitalization and deaths.
The drug is approved under emergency use authorization for Covid-19 in many countries, including the US, UK, EU, Singapore, Australia, Japan and China. Aman Mehta, CEO of Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited, said: "We are pleased to enter into this agreement with MPP and it is part of our ongoing effort to make Covid treatments as accessible as possible for patients."
โWe are pleased to partner with MPP to make a generic version of the innovative drug PAXLOVID for the global community and help reduce the health burden due to the pandemic,โ said Rajiv Modi, MD, CMD, Cadila Pharmaceuticals.
Pfizer markets its oral Covid-19 treatment under the name PAXLOVID, which is authorized by the USFDA for emergency use authorization and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for the treatment of Covid-19 in patients at high risk of progress to severe disease.
