Patent holder of Remdesivir, Gilead has allowed Indian pharmaceutical companies to make the drug that shows promise in COVID treatment.
New Delhi| US drug-maker Gilead stated signing voluntary licensing agreements with Indian pharmaceutical companies including Cipla and Jubilant Life Sciences to expand the supply of Remdesivir.
Remdesivir is an experimental drug that has shown promise in treating COVID-19.
The ‘non-exclusive’ agreements allow Cipla, Hetero Labs, Jubilant Lifesciences and Mylan to manufacture Remdesivir. The American firm has also permitted one drug-maker based in Pakistan, Ferozsons Laboratories, and the Pennsylvania-based Mylan to manufacture the drug.
Drugs will be produced for distribution in 127 countries.
The companies have also been allowed to set their own prices for the generic product.
“The licenses are royalty-free until the WHO announces the end of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding COVID-19, or until a pharmaceutical product other than Remdesivir or a vaccine is authorised to treat or stop COVID-19, whichever is earlier,” Gilead said, The Print reported.
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Gilead has said that the list of 127 nations includes nearly all low-income, lower-middle-income and many upper-middle and high-income countries that face significant obstacles to healthcare access.
The patented drug is commonly being seen as the medicine with the most “clear-cut” certain effects in treating COVID-19.
Globally, the total number of COVID-19 cases topped 4,230,000 while the death toll crossed 290,000, as per the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
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