Jubilant Life Sciences and Gilead Sciences sign licensing deal for Remdesivir

MUMBAI: India’s Jubilant Life Sciences and US-based Gilead Sciences signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement on Tuesday for manufacturing remdesivir, a drug which has been identified as a potential therapy for Covid-19. The licensing agreement is for India and 127 other low, middle income and upper middle income countries where the Noida-based company will market the drug.

“We will be monitoring the clinical trials and regulatory approvals very closely and would be ready to launch the drug shortly after the required regulatory approvals. We also plan to produce the drug’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in-house helping its cost effectiveness and consistent availability,” Jubilant Life Sciences chairman Shyam Bhartia and managing director Hari S Bhartia said in a statement.

ET had reported on May 5 that Gilead Sciences was in talks with several Indian companies including Jubilant Life Sciences for a licensing deal.

Jubilant also has the right to receive a technology transfer of Gilead Sciences’ manufacturing process to scale up production to enable expedited access of the medicine to Covid-19 patients upon approvals by regulatory authorities in respective countries.

Remdesivir is one of the most watched drugs for the treatment of coronavirus. In April it received an emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), making it the first authorised therapy for the virus. The USFDA’s approval was based on trial results which showed that the drug reduced the recovery time to five days from 10 days for moderate patients.

Gilead Sciences is in talks with other Indian companies for similar licensing agreements, ET has learnt.