6 Indian drug makers sign licensing deals for HIV, hepatitis C treatments

A United Nations backed public health organisation said it has signed a licencing agreement with six Indian drug makers to sell generic antiretrovirals (ARV) and the hepatitis C drug Daclatasvir in low and middle-income countries.
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) named the Indian manufacturers as: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hetero Labs Ltd, Laurus Labs Ltd, Lupin Ltd and Zydus Cadila or Cadila Healthcare Ltd.
Anti-retroviral drugs are used in the treatment of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, while Daclatasvir, in combination with sofosbuvir, is an effective treatment for patients with hepatitis-C.
MPP is a UN-backed public health organisation that works towards increasing access to drugs for HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis by negotiating for public-health driven licences with patent holders. Patent holders are compensated by royalties, saving millions of dollars for donors and developing country governments.
“These new sub-licences will secure greater volumes of low-cost medicines for people living with HIV and hepatitis C in low- and middle-income countries,” said Greg Perry, MPP’s executive director. “We look forward to working with the companies to speed delivery of these treatments to those most in need of better medical options.”
MPP’s long-time generic partner Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma signed two sub-licences. The first allows the company to produce combination ARV drug lopinavir and ritonavir for Africa, following MPP’s agreement with US-based AbbVie Inc. in December 2015.
Aurobindo also joins six other companies in the development of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.(BMS)’s Daclatasvir, the first hepatitis C medicine in MPP’s portfolio. Aurobindo sold ARV drugs worth of Rs.1200 crore or 11% of its total generic sales of Rs.11,166 crore in the year ended March, largely through participating in contracts brokered by multilateral agencies.