Kenya is among the list of 127 countries that are set to receive Gilead Sciences’ Remdesivir, an intravenous antiviral drug that has helped shorten the recovery time of some hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
This unfolds after Gilead Sciences, an American biopharmaceutical company, signed non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with five generic pharmaceutical manufacturers located in India and Pakistan to expand the supply of the drug further.
The manufacturers are Cipla Ltd., Ferozsons Laboratories, Hetero Labs Ltd., Jubilant Lifesciences, and Mylan.
Therefore, the agreement allows the companies mentioned above to manufacture remdesivir for distribution in “low-income and lower-middle-income countries, as well as several upper-middle- and high-income countries” that face health-care obstacles amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Gilead, the licenses will remain free of royalties until the World Health Organization (WHO) declares an end to the Public Health Emergency of International Concern in regards to COVID-19, or until a different pharmaceutical product or a vaccine is approved to treat or prevent COVID-19.
Furthermore, the companies also have a right to receive a technology transfer of the Gilead manufacturing process for the drug in order to enable them to scale up production. Additionally, the companies will also set their own prices for the generic product they produce.
On 1st May 2020, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for Gilead’s remdesivir drug to treat COVID-19.
The agreements permit distribution to 127 countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Madagascar, Somalia, Sudan, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, Egypt, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe.
Gilead Sciences Inc. is an American biopharmaceutical company, with its headquarters in Foster City, California. It researches, develops, and commercializes drugs. The company focuses primarily on antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and influenza.
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