The Minister of Health yesterday said that some private companies may have the capacity to produce Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill.
Dr Frank Anthony made this disclosure in response to questions posed by Stabroek News during his daily COVID-19 update. Pfizer Inc earlier this week announced that it would allow generic manufacturers to supply its COVID-19 pill to low income countries through licensing agreements.
This newspaper inquired whether the local health authorities would be interested in producing and supplying the pill here. To this end Anthony noted that Pfizer has signed an agreement with the World Health Organization’s patent production office where they are allowing use of the technology to enable other countries to manufacture the pill.
“We don’t have manufacturing capacity in the public sector for pharmaceuticals, but here in Guyana there are private companies that would have the manufacturing capability,” the health minister said, adding that if those companies work with the WHO’s office and are able to bring that medicine to Guyana, it is something that the authorities would want to procure.
He noted that it would require a lot of investment to be able to produce that type of medication. However if this does not happen, given the amount of countries that will be producing the pill, authorities will be able to get the medication at an affordable price once production has started.
“So it is something that we are looking at as I have said before, we have reviewed the efficacy of the medication, it seemed to be working quite well and therefore as soon as it’s made available and it is licensed that’s something that we will want to look at and it’s certainly a medication that we will want to add to the meds that we already have been using to treat COVID-19,” Anthony was quoted as saying.
According to a Reuters report, the licensing agreement between Pfizer and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) will allow the United Nations-backed group to grant sub-licenses to qualified drug manufacturers in order to make their own version of the pill.
Reuters said that Pfizer applied for emergency authorization of the drug, branded as Paxlovid, this week after reporting data showing that it was 89% effective at preventing hospitalization or death in at-risk people. The trial’s results suggest that Paxlovid surpasses Merck’s molnupiravir which was shown last month to halve the risk of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients at high risk of serious illness.
“While this pill still requires a full review by the Food and Drug Administration, I have taken immediate steps to secure enough supply for the American people,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. He added that his administration was making preparations to ensure the treatment is easily accessible and free.
Pfizer said it would begin deliveries of the treatment as soon as this year if it is authorized by the U.S. FDA.
