Gilead licenses remdesivir production to India and Pakistan

NEW DELHI -- U.S.-based Gilead Sciences has tied up with India's Cipla and Jubilant Life Sciences, Pakistan's Ferozsons Laboratories and two other generic pharmaceutical makers to ramp up the supply of remdesivir, its closely watched investigational coronavirus drug.

The non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements allow the partner companies to produce remdesivir for distribution in 127 countries, Gilead said in a statement. "The countries consist of nearly all low-income and lower-middle-income countries, as well as several upper-middle- and high-income countries that face significant obstacles to healthcare access," the statement says.