By Michael Erman
(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc will make all of its patented medicines, including its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid, and blockbuster breast cancer drug Ibrance, available at not-for-profit prices to 45 of the world’s poorest countries. , the pharmaceutical company reported on Wednesday.
These countries lack good access to innovative treatments. According to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it may take four to seven years for new treatments to become available in low-income countries, if at all.
Pfizer said its plan includes 23 proprietary drugs and vaccines it owns that treat infectious diseases, certain cancers, and rare and inflammatory diseases. In addition to Paxlovid and Ibrance, the list includes the pneumonia vaccine Prevnar 13, the rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz, and the cancer treatments Xalkori and Inlyta.
The COVID-19 vaccine that Comirnaty developed with BioNTech SE is also on the list.
(Reporting by Michael Erman; editing by Bill Berkrot; translation by Darío Fernández)
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