Pfizer Allows Other Companies To Make Its Covid Pill

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to make its oral antiviral Covid-19 drug more affordable in poor countries. It has been said on behalf of the company that if this drug meets the trial and regulatory approval, then it will be available at a very low price. Pfizer which also manufactures the covid vaccine with German lab BioNTech, has said that it has signed an agreement with generic drug manufacturers for sublicense production of its Paxlovid pill without any royalties.

According to the company, with this move, the said drug could be available to half the world's population. In the statement, Pfizer said that it will license the 'Medicines Patent Pool' (MPP) for the anti-virus drug which is a 'generic' drug manufacturer.

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According to the company, this drug will be used in 95 countries of the world, where about 53 percent of the world's population lives. After the deal, this drug is to be taken with HIV medicine.

Health officials believe that with the approval of Pfizer's drug elsewhere, the epidemic can be overcome quickly due to this agreement in advance. "It is important that we provide more than four billion people with a drug that appears to be effective and has just been developed," said Esteban Buron, policy head of the Medicines Patent Pool. He said that other pharmaceutical companies can start production of the drug in a few months, but some people will be disappointed with this agreement.