Several generic drugmakers that will produce versions of Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid agreed to sell the medicine in low-income and middle-income countries for $25 a course or less, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) said on May 12.

Thirty five generic drugmakers around the world will make cheap versions of Pfizer Inc.’s highly effective COVID-19 oral antiviral Paxlovid to supply the treatment in 95 poorer countries, the U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) said on March 17.

Moderna Inc. plans to develop and begin testing vaccines targeting 15 of the world’s most worrisome pathogens by 2025 and will permanently waive the company’s COVID-19 vaccine patents for shots intended for certain low-income and middle-income countries.

Paxlovid

Pfizer Inc. is expected to provide around 10 million courses of the company’s highly effective COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid to low-income and middle-income countries during 2022, according to an official with the Global Fund, a healthcare NGO working to buy the pills from the drugmaker.

A COVID-19 vaccine that can be produced locally in low-income and middle-income countries is yielding promising results in early clinical trials, researchers say. Other researchers believe that once the body has been “primed” by mRNA vaccines to recognize and attack the coronavirus, a booster containing purified versions of virus’ spike protein that could be given intranasally would have many advantages.

Merck

Merck & Co. signed a licensing agreement with the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) that will allow more companies to manufacture generic versions of the company’s experimental oral antiviral Covid-19 treatment, the U.S. drugmaker and the organization announced on Oct. 27.

Novavax

Novavax Inc. on Aug. 5 again delayed the company’s timeline for seeking U.S. authorization for its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine, but expects to become a major distributor to lower and middle-income countries this year.

German biotech CureVac NV said the company’s Covid-19 vaccine was only 47 percent effective in a late-stage trial, missing the study’s main goal and throwing in doubt the potential delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to the European Union.

The Biden administration plans to donate 500 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to nearly 100 countries over the next two years, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on June 9.

COVAX

COVAX will deliver 237 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shot to 142 countries by the end of May as the World Health Organization-backed program steps up the global roll-out of its vaccine supplies.