Drugmaker Pfizer Inc has signed a deal with a UN-backed group to allow other manufacturers to make its experimental Covid-19 pill, a move that could make the treatment available to more than half of the world’s population.
In a statement, Pfizer said it would grant a licence for the antiviral pill to the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, which would let generic drug companies produce the pill for use in 95 countries, making up about 53 per cent of the world’s population.
The deal excludes some large countries that have suffered devastating coronavirus outbreaks. For example, while a Brazilian drug company could get a licence to make the pill for export to other countries, the medicine could not be made generically for use in Brazil.
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