Dr Reddy’s signs licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences for remdesivir

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences to register, manufacture and sell remdesivir, a potential treatment for COVID-19, in 127 countries including India.

Dr Reddy’s will receive technology transfer from Gilead for manufacturing of this drug and needs to do the manufacturing scale-up and obtain regulatory approval for marketing of this drug in respective countries, a press release from DRL said.

Remdesivir, an investigational antiviral therapy developed by Gilead, received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to treat hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 illness.

In May, four companies, i.e. Hetero, Jubilant Life Sciences, Cipla and Mylan NV, have earlier entered into non-exclusive licensing agreements. They are still awaiting permission from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for manufacturing and distribution remdesivir in the country.

Yesterday, Zydus Cadila announced that they have also entered into a non-exclusive Licensing Agreement with Gilead Sciences for remdesivir.

India currently does not manufacture remdesivir.