US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has reached an agreement to manufacture and sell experimental Covid-19 pills in 95 developing countries. A deal with a United Nations-backed patent pool for non-profit medicines could make treatment available to 53% of the world’s population.
But that rules out several countries that have seen significant outbreaks of Covid-19, including Brazil. Pfizer says the pill reduces the risk of serious illness in at-risk adults. In a statement Tuesday, Pfizer said the agreement would allow local drugmakers to manufacture pills “to facilitate better access to the world’s population.”
Pfizer will not receive royalties in sales in low-income countries and. Said it would waive royalties in all countries covered by the agreement.
At the same time, Covid remains a public health emergency identified by the World Health Organization.
In early November, Pfizer said clinical studies had shown the Covid-19 pill, Paxlovid. Reduced the risk of hospitalization and death in high-risk adult patients by 89 percent. Charles Gore, director of the Patent Pool for Medicines, said in a statement that licensing was necessary. Because “these oral drugs are particularly useful in low- and middle-income countries and can play an important role in saving lives.”
Antiviral pill against Covid with 89% effectiveness, says Pfizer
Covid card: where are the highest cases?Most of the countries involved are in Africa or Asia. However, Brazil, China, Russia, Argentina, and Thailand, which have experienced significant outbreaks, are not part of the deal.
Some experts say this is not enough to address inequalities in access to Covid-19 treatments and vaccines. Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies have also rejected patent applications for their Covid-19 attacks.
Médecins Sans Frontières said they were “disappointed. That the deal did not make Pfizer Covid-19 pills available worldwide, in a statement to the Associated Press. “The world already knows that if we want to control this pandemic, access to Covid-19 medical instruments must be available everywhere. And for everyone,” said Yuanchiong Hu, the group’s legal adviser.
In October, another drug company, Merck, announced a similar deal. With the Drug Patent Pool to allow manufacturers to make their pill for Covid-19, molnupiravir.