Pfizer licenses its generic Covid drug
GENEVA (dpa-AFX) – The pharmaceutical company Pfizer issues licenses to generic drug manufacturers for the production of its Covid drugs. A spokesman for Unitaid reported on Tuesday in Geneva which companies these are will be decided by the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) organization. Unitaid is an organization that was originally founded in 2006 to buy drugs against HIV / AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in order to get lower prices for poorer countries.
The Pfizer active ingredient PF-07321332 is said to protect Covid-19 patients from a severe course of the disease. The company announced positive results from a Phase III study in early November and is in the process of filing for approvals.
With the licenses, manufacturers in 95 countries, where 53 percent of the world’s population live, should be able to start production. How expensive the drug WILL be or what price difference between the original and generic product WILL be, is not yet known. As long as the WHO classification of the corona pandemic as an “emergency of international scope” persists, the company will not receive any license fees, and at least not from the poorest countries afterwards ./oe/DP/ngu