Hyderabad-based drug major Hetero prices Paxlovid generic at $60 per course

Generic version of Pfizer's Covid antiviral treatment would be exported for $70

Hyderabad-based drug major Hetero has priced the generic version of Pfizer’s Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid at $60 for the full course in India.

However, the company would export it for a price of $70 for a course comprising 30 tablets.

The company on Monday said it has emerged the first player globally to receive World Health Organisation’s (WHO) prequalification of medicines programme (WHO-PQ) for its generic version of Covid-19 oral antiviral treatment candidate Nirmatrelvir. This, along with Ritonavir, is used as part of Pfizer’s Paxlovid.

A Hetero source indicated that the company has already started production in batches of this drug. It is ready to supply it both in the domestic and export markets as orders come. These would be manufactured at the company’s Hyderabad plant.

“The PQ has come in just a day back, and therefore, it’s too early for us to gauge the demand in the international markets. But now that WHO and UN agencies can procure the drug for distribution in low and middle income countries (LMICs), we are ready with our product,” the source said.

The person added that while a full course of Paxlovid costs around $500 globally, Hetero has priced it at $60 (Rs 4,900 for the full course) for India.

As for the Indian market, this drug would not be available privately. “We would be selling it to institutions (government and private) and hospitals here,” the source added.

The decision to avoid direct sales to the private market stems from the fact that spurious drugs often surface for such brands. Also, during the pandemic, prices of key drugs like remdesivir had shot up in the black market.

“This is the first prequalification for a generic version of Pfizer’s Covid-19 oral antiviral drug Paxlovid, which the WHO called the best therapeutic choice for high-risk patients to date,” Hetero said.

Hetero will be rolling out its combination pack containing 150 mg tablets of nirmatrelvir and 100mg tablets of ritonavir under the Nirmacom brand. One has to take 30 tablets over a period of five days.

The tablets will be available on prescription only and have to be started within five days of onset of Covid symptoms, it added.

Hetero Group managing director (MD) Vamsi Krishna Bandi said: “It allows us to expand access to this important innovative antiretroviral drug to people in need. We are committed to making Nirmacom available faster at affordable prices across 95 LMICs, including India.”

Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) executive director Charles Gore said: “We are delighted to see the first generic version of nirmatrelvir, under MPP licence with Pfizer, receive quality assurance approval from WHO. This is an impressive achievement for Hetero as we announced the sub-licence agreements just nine months ago. With cases of Covid again on the rise, we need to make treatments readily available in LMICs, so that no one is left behind.”

Hetero had entered into a non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with MPP for the manufacture and sale of a generic version of Pfizer’s Covid-19 oral antiviral in LMICs.

Indian firms including Torrent Pharma, Cadila Pharma, Hetero, Biocon, Strides, Glenmark, Emcure, Granules, Macleods, Sun Pharma, and Cipla, among others, had also signed licence agreements with the MPP.

Hetero has received emergency use authorisation (EUA) approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and market Nirmacom.

Data shows that the risk of hospitalisation is reduced by 85 per cent following this treatment. In a high-risk group (over 10 per cent risk of hospitalisation), that means 84 fewer hospitalisations per 1,000 patients. 

WHO suggests against its use in patients with lower risk. This is because the benefits were found to be negligible.

Booster Dose

• Hetero to make this Covid antiviral drug combination in Hyderabad

• It is already producing tablets in batches

• Will not sell to private market in India

• Will be sold to only hospitals and institutions 

• Will supply to low and middle income countries