Six Million COVID-19 Antivirals Available for Low-and-Middle-Income Countries

New York-based Pfizer Inc. announced today an agreement to supply up to six million treatment courses of PAXLOVID™ to Global Fund as part of its COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM).

The C19RM has been the primary channel for providing grant support to low- and middle-income countries.

PAXLOVID, an oral treatment, treatment courses will be available for procurement through this mechanism, subject to local regulatory approval or authorization, by the 132 grant-eligible countries.

Pfizer expects supply to be available starting in 2022.

“After so much disruption and loss due to COVID-19, we must continue to accelerate access to PAXLOVID as a treatment option for high-risk patients in all regions of the world along with test and treat programs that help get treatment quickly to those in need”, said Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer, in a related press release issued on September 22, 2022.

“This agreement with Global Fund is a critical step that will boost equitable access for high-risk patients in low-and-middle-income countries.”

The Global Fund agreement and an agreement signed with UNICEF for supplying up to four million treatment courses for low- and middle-income countries earlier this year is part of Pfizer’s comprehensive global strategy for equitable supply and access to PAXLOVID.

This includes a voluntary licensing agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool to enable the development and distribution of generic versions of Pfizer’s oral treatment to further expand long-term global supply and access.

Pfizer will also provide product donations and funding to the COVID Treatment Quick Start Consortium to support efforts to accelerate COVID-19 testing and improve access to treatments in under-resourced parts of the world.

Pfizer also looks to increase the supply of PAXLOVID through An Accord for a Healthier World, a first-of-its-kind initiative to enable sustained, equitable access to high-quality medicines and vaccines for 1.2 billion people living in lower-income countries launched in May 2022.

Through the Accord, Pfizer has committed to providing its patent-protected medicines and vaccines available in the U.S. or European Union, including PAXLOVID, on a not-for-profit basis to 45 lower-income countries and will collaborate with government and global health leaders to address barriers that limit access beyond supply, like diagnosis, education, infrastructure, storage and more.

Additional COVID-19 antiviral news is posted at PrecisionVaccinations.com/Antivirals.