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    Torrent & Cadila Pharmaceuticals get license to manufacture oral antiviral Covid-19 pill nirmatrelvir

    Synopsis

    Torrent said that t it has signed a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sub licensable, license agreement to use the patents and know-how in relation to the compound nirmatrelvir with MPP. Cadila said that it will cater to Indian and export markets since many countries with high Covid-19 burden lack access to effective therapy.

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    Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Cadila Pharmaceuticals today said that they have received a licence to manufacture a generic version of Pfizer’s oral antiviral Covid-19 pillnirmatrelvir, through a license from Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), an UN-based public health organisation working to increase access to life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries.

    Torrent said that t it has signed a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sub licensable, license agreement to use the patents and know-how in relation to the compound nirmatrelvir with MPP.

    Aman Mehta, Executive Director Torrent Pharmaceuticals said: “We are pleased to enter into this agreement with MPP and is part of our continued endeavor to make Covid treatments as accessible as possible to patients.”

    Cadila said that it will cater to Indian and export markets since many countries with high Covid-19 burden lack access to effective therapy.

    "We are pleased to partner with MPP. to make a generic version of the innovative medicine PAXLOVID for the global community and contribute towards reducing the health burden due to the pandemic. We reiterate our commitment to make affordable innovations available to the last man in society,” said Rajiv Modi, CMD, Cadila Pharmaceuticals in a statement.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised the use of Paxlovid, nirmatrelvir tablets and ritonavir tablets, co-packaged for oral use to treat high-risk mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults and paediatric patients above 12 years of age weighing at least 40 kg.

    “Pfizer’s PAXLOVIDTM consists of nirmatrelvir, which inhibits a SARS-CoV-2 protein to stop the virus from replicating, and ritonavir, which slows down nirmatrelvir’s breakdown to help it remain in the body for a longer period at higher concentrations,” Cadila said.

    Pfizer’s Paxlovid is administered as three tablets (two tablets of nirmatrelvir and one tablet of ritonavir) taken together orally twice daily for five days, for 30 tablets.

    The drug is available by prescription only and should be initiated as soon as possible after the diagnosis of Covid-19 and within five days of symptom onset.

    The FDA granted the emergency use authorisation to Pqxlovod following a clinical data from Phase 2/3 trial, which enrolled non- hospitalised adults aged 18 and older with confirmed Covid-19 at increased risk of progressing to severe illness.

    The data showed an 89% reduction in the risk of Covid-19 related hospitalisation or death from any cause in adults treated with Paxlovid, compared to placebo, within three days of symptom onset.



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