PFE - Viatris Aurobindo Cipla to make generics of ViiV's HIV drug for low income countries

2023-03-30 05:13:16 ET

The United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) signed agreements with Aurobindo, Cipla and Viatris ( NASDAQ: VTRS ) to produce generic versions of ViiV Healthcare's long-acting HIV prevention medicine.

ViiV — which is majority owned by GSK ( NYSE: GSK ), with Pfizer ( PFE ) and Shionogi ( OTCPK:SGIOY ) ( OTCPK:SGIOF ) as shareholders — said that MPP signed sublicence agreements with the three companies to make generic versions of Apretude (cabotegravir) long-acting (LA) for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

In July 2022, the company had signed a voluntary licensing agreement with MPP for patents related to the drug to allow for access to generics in low and middle income countries and sub-Saharan African nations.

In October 2022, MPP had inked an agreement with Novartis ( NVS ) to increase access to blood cancer drug nilotinib, sold as Tasigna.

Under the agreement with MPP, the selected generic drugmakers will be able to develop, make and supply generic versions of cabotegravir in 90 countries, subject to getting regulatory approvals.

Aurobindo and Viatris and Cipla will manufacture in India. Cipla also has plans to manufacture in South Africa.

"The signing of sublicence agreements with three generic partners is an incredibly important milestone towards enabling broad access to this medicine in countries where there is the highest burden of new HIV cases," said ViiV CEO Deborah Waterhouse.

In November 2022, GSK ( GSK ) ranked number 1 in the 2022 Access to Medicine Index, a report carried out by a non-profit organization that ranks 20 of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies on progress to improve access in 108 lower income countries and focuses on 83 diseases.

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