Merck partners with Indian drugmakers to increase access to COVID-19 drug

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Merck partners with Indian drugmakers to increase access to COVID-19 drug

INICIO/Noticias Farmacéuticas | Posted 21/05/2021 0 Post your comment

On 27 April 2021, Merck & Co Inc (also known as MSD Pharmaceuticals) announced that it had partnered with five Indian generic drug manufacturers to expand production and access to its experimental COVID-19 drug.

Merck has signed non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Hetero Labs and Sun Pharma regarding its investigational oral drug, molnupiravir.

Merck has stated that, under the terms of the agreements, the companies are licensed to supply molnupiravir to India and over a hundred low- and middle-income countries, following approvals or emergency authorization by local regulatory agencies.

Molnupiravir has been developed by Merck in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. The drug is an investigational oral antiviral agent currently being studied in a phase III trial for the treatment of non-hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19.

It has been stated that Merck is also donating more than five million dollars’ worth of oxygen-production equipment, masks, hand sanitizer and financial aid to support relief efforts in India. In addition, Merck is in discussions with the Medicines Patent Pool to explore the potential for additional licenses.

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LATIN AMERICAN FORUM – Coming soon! To further enhance the objectives of GaBI in sharing information and knowledge that ensure policies supportive of safe biosimilars use, we are pleased to announce that we will be launching a new section on GaBI Online and GaBI Journal, the ‘Latin American Forum’ (in Spanish) featuring the latest news and updates on research and developments in generic and biosimilar medicines in Latin America. Register to receive the GaBI Latin American Forum newsletter. Inform colleagues and friends of this new initiative. LATIN AMERICAN FORUM – Próximamente! Para fomentar los objetivos de GaBI sobre la difusión de información y conocimiento sobre las políticas de apoyo que garantizan el uso seguro de medicamentos biosimilares, nos complace anunciar el lanzamiento de una nueva sección en GaBI Online y GaBI Journal, el ‘Latin American Forum’ (en español), que presentará las últimas noticias y actualizaciones en investigación y desarrollo sobre medicamentos genéricos y biosimilares en Latinoamérica. Regístrese para recibir el boletín informativo GaBI Latin American Forum. Informe a colegas y amigos sobre esta nueva iniciativa.

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