Gilead Sciences has struck a licensing agreement with five generic drugmakers to make antiviral drug remdesivir for 127 countries, not including the United States. 

Drugmakers Mylan, Cipla, Ferozsons Laboratories, Hetero Labs and Jubilant Lifesciences will manufacture remdesivir for distribution in “low-income and lower-middle-income countries, as well as several upper-middle- and high-income countries” that face health-care obstacles amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company said. 

The deal is “royalty-free” until the World Health Organization says the Covid-19 outbreak is no longer a global health crisis or “until a pharmaceutical product other than remdesivir or a vaccine is approved to treat or prevent Covid-19, whichever is earlier,” the company said. 

Gilead Sciences has struck a licensing agreement with five generic drugmakers to make antiviral drug remdesivir for 127 countries, not including the United States, the company announced Tuesday. 

Drugmakers Mylan, Cipla, Ferozsons Laboratories, Hetero Labs and Jubilant Lifesciences will manufacture remdesivir for distribution in “low-income and lower-middle-income countries, as well as several upper-middle- and high-income countries” that face health-care obstacles amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company said. 

The deal is “royalty-free” until the World Health Organization says the Covid-19 outbreak is no longer a global health crisis or “until a pharmaceutical product other than remdesivir or a vaccine is approved to treat or prevent Covid-19, whichever is earlier,” the company said. 

On April 30, the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported that its clinical trial of Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir in 1,063 COVID-19 patients met its primary endpoint. Patients receiving the drug recovered faster than similar patients who received placebo. The trial was known as the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT). A day later the FDA granted the drug emergency use authorization.