Celltrion announced today that it has completed a license-in agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to produce generic drugs Nirmatrelvir & Ritonavir for Pfizer's oral COVID-19 treatment.
Celltrion Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Celltrion, will be in charge of developing and producing finished products, and Celltrion will supply them overseas.
Celltrion Group has completed the establishment of a development plan with the goal of completing development as soon as possible and entering into commercialization. In the future, production of the product will be carried out at Celltrion Pharmaceutical's Cheongju plant, which is a cGMP facility.
As of this year, the market for oral COVID-19 treatment to be supplied to low- and middle-income countries through international organizations is expected to reach about 1.7 trillion won.
Based on this license agreement, Celltrion Group plans to produce and supply Pfizer's oral COVID-19 generic medicines to up to 95 low- and middle-income countries.
Pfizer's oral COVID-19 treatment was reported to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by 89% compared to the placebo group in the results of phase 2/3 clinical trials. It has been approved for use in major countries around the world, including the United States and the EU, and is currently being prescribed.
