Gilead Sciences has signed non-exclusive licence agreements to provide generic versions of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate.
NEW DELHI: Gilead Sciences has signed non-exclusive licence agreements to provide generic versions of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate - its best-selling AIDS drug that is sold under the brand name Viread - to three generic manufacturers in India. These licences have been granted to Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Hetero Drugs and Strides Arcolab and allow manufacture of commercial quantities of both active pharmaceutical ingredient and finished product.
The rider, however, is that these firms have the rights to produce and distribute generic versions of tenofovir only in 95 low-income countries around the world, including India. Other lucrative markets and middle-income countries are out of reach. Describing it as an attempt to help meet the needs of patients in developing world, Gilead president and CEO John C Martin said the company was looking at signing more such agreements with other generic firms.