Hyderabad: Aurobindo inks pact with Pfizer for Covid oral treatment

Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, along with its subsidiaries together referred to as "Aurobindo", has announced signing of sub-licence agreement for a generic version of Pfizer's Covid oral treatment Nirmatrelvir with the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), headquartered in Geneva, for manufacturing and supplying the generic drug product to 95 countries, including India.

Earlier, MPP signed voluntary licencing agreement with Pfizer for sub-licencing this Covid treatment product to qualified generic drug-makers.

Nirmatrelvir, in combination with Ritonavir co-pack, has received emergency use/conditional authorisation for Covid treatment in certain populations by the USFDA, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (UKMHRA and nearly 50 other countries).

K Nithyananda Reddy, Vice-Chairman & MD, Aurobindo said," we are extremely happy to partner with Medicines Patent Pool to bring this treatment option for Covid to low & middle income countries. Aurobindo has already developed and commercialised Ritonavir, which is used as a booster along with Nirmatrelvir.

We are excited to work on this molecule and will soon make it available commercially at an affordable price for these markets after due process of registration and approval in various countries, including DCGI in India. This combination will be a very valuable addition to our portfolio along with Molnaflu® (molnupiravir) for the treatment of Covid."

For Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir molecules, like other antivirals, Aurobindo enjoys backward integration with in-house API manufacturing which equips it with stronger control on supply chain and cost efficiencies. The product will be manufactured at the company's state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India that are approved by global regulatory agencies, including USFDA and UKMHRA. The company has adequate capacities to meet the global demand across the 95 countries, including India.