Pfizer & Unicef, reach a deal on new anti C-19 pill!
Pfizer will sell to the United Nations Children’s Fund up to four million treatment courses of Paxlovid!
exclusively for use in low- and middle-income countries, Unicef confirms
Pfizer Inc. plans to sell to the United Nations up to four million treatment courses of its Covid-19 pill Paxlovid, which will go to over 95 low- and middle-income countries, as part of the company’s effort to expand access to the pill beyond wealthy countries.
Pfizer said Tuesday that Afghanistan, Pakistan and Zimbabwe are among the countries where Unicef will distribute the easy-to-use pill.
- A Pfizer spokeswoman said the company is charging Unicef a “not-for-profit price”.
Pfizer said it would start shipping pills in April to countries where Paxlovid is authorized, and it expects more supplies to become available throughout the year.
The company said it expects to produce 120 million treatment courses by the end of 2022.
*Bloomberg chart on Pfizer and other C-19 stocks
“Supplying Unicef is an important part of our comprehensive strategy to accelerate access to Paxlovid, to efficiently treat C-19 infection as quickly as possible and at an affordable price,”
Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said, WSJ reports
Last year,
Pfizer agreed to license Paxlovid to the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool, and allow other drug-makers to manufacture the pill for use in lower-income countries, including in sub-Saharan Africa.
Paxlovid is an antiviral treatment used to help speed recovery from C-19,in people with mild to moderate symptoms but who are at high risk of bad cases.
In clinical trials, the drug reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% (compared with a placebo)
*The Food and Drug Administration authorized Paxlovid for emergency use last December.
@thejorunalbiz
