Cipla on Monday announced that it has signed an agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to manufacture baricitinib for COVID-19 treatment. “Cipla Limited today announced it has signed a royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company, USA for the manufacture and commercialization of the drug baricitinib for COVID-19 indication,” the drugmaker said in a regulatory filing.
Baricitinib earlier received restricted emergency use approval by y the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for use in combination with remdesivir for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 adult patients requiring supplemental oxygen, Cipla said. “With the COVID-19 crisis devastating India, hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of cases and patients need access to potentially life-saving treatments such as baricitinib,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly chairman and chief executive officer, said earlier. “We hope that our donations as well as collaborations with other organizations speed access to baricitinib and provide treatment options for these patients.” To treat COVID-19 patients, US Food and Drug Administration gave Eli Lilly an emergency use approval for baricitinib in combination with remdesivir last year.
Commenting on the partnership with Eli Lilly, Umang Vohra, Managing Director and global chief executive officer, Cipla Limited said, “Enabling access to high-quality treatment and medication is core to our purpose of ‘Caring for life.’ Through the pandemic, Cipla has been at the forefront of COVID care and our partnership with Lilly is a demonstration of our unwavering commitment to care towards patients impacted by COVID-19.”
“This collaboration is a step further in Cipla’s efforts to enhance
access to critical treatments for patients affected by the pandemic,” Cipla noted. Apart from remdesivir and tocilizumab, the company also offers antiviral drug favipiravir, used to treat patients with moderate to mild COVID-19.
Last week, Cipla said it would be the local distribution partner for a COVID-19 antibody drug cocktail developed by Roche (ROG.S) and Regeneron (REGN.O), after the therapy got emergency use approval from India’s drug regulator. The therapy is a cocktail of two antibodies Casirivimab and Imdevimab, which are synthetically manufactured copies of antibodies that the body produces after an infection. It has been shown to reduce hospitalizations in COVID-19 patients who are at a high risk of developing severe illness.
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