A delegation of Gilead Sciences, Inc. met the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, here yesterday.
The delegation informed the Minister about signing of non-exclusive licensing agreements with seven India-based generic pharmaceutical manufacturers allowing the companies — Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Cipla Ltd, Hetero Labs Ltd, Mylan Laboratories Ltd., Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., Sequent Scientific Ltd. and Strides Arcolab Ltd. — to manufacture Sofosbuvir and the investigational single tablet regimen of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir for distribution in 91 developing countries.
These countries account for 54 per cent of the total global infected population of Hepatitis C. The Gilead team also briefed the Minister about the fact that no price limitations have been fixed in the said licensing deal in order to ensure adequate competition amongst the licensees resulting in competitive prices for the patients.
In a statement, the Minister said, “India appreciates innovation and partnerships to improve access of medicines through transparent, non- restrictive voluntary licensing.”