Pfizer to allow generic versions of its COVID pill in 95 countries

Pfizer to allow generic versions of its COVID pill in 95 countries
# 16 November 2021 19:45 (UTC +04:00)

Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Tuesday it will allow generic manufacturers to supply its experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill to 95 low- and middle-income countries through a licensing agreement with international public health group Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), APA reports citing Reuters.

The voluntary licensing agreement between Pfizer and the MPP will allow the UN-backed group to grant sub-licences to qualified generic drug manufacturers to make their own versions of PF-07321332. Pfizer will sell the pills it manufactures under the brand name Paxlovid.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was "disheartened" by the deal which it said was restrictive and excluded countries such as Argentina and China with established capacity for producing generic drugs.

"The world knows by now that access to COVID-19 medical tools needs to be guaranteed for everyone, everywhere, if we really want to control this pandemic," said Yuanqiong Hu, MSF Senior Legal Policy Adviser.

Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Tuesday it will allow generic manufacturers to supply its experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill to 95 low- and middle-income countries through a licensing agreement with international public health group Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).

The voluntary licensing agreement between Pfizer and the MPP will allow the UN-backed group to grant sub-licences to qualified generic drug manufacturers to make their own versions of PF-07321332. Pfizer will sell the pills it manufactures under the brand name Paxlovid.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was "disheartened" by the deal which it said was restrictive and excluded countries such as Argentina and China with established capacity for producing generic drugs.

"The world knows by now that access to COVID-19 medical tools needs to be guaranteed for everyone, everywhere, if we really want to control this pandemic," said Yuanqiong Hu, MSF Senior Legal Policy Adviser.

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