Celltrion Group to Produce 'Paxlovid' Following 'Lagevrio'

Pfizer's oral COVID-19 treatment 'Paxlovid' [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Celltrion Group is starting production of Pfizer's oral COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid. Following MSD (U.S. Merck)'s oral COVID-19 treatment Lagevrio (Molnupiravir), Celltrion will also handle the production of Paxlovid.

On the 18th, Celltrion announced that it had completed a licensing agreement with the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and Pfizer for the production of generic medicines containing 'Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir.' Paxlovid consists of a single dose combining two 150 mg tablets of Nirmatrelvir and one 100 mg tablet of Ritonavir.

This agreement follows Pfizer, the developer of Paxlovid, granting a non-exclusive license through MPP to allow sales in low- and middle-income countries (LMIIC) to expand access to the oral COVID-19 treatment. MPP, established in 2010 under the international drug procurement organization Unitaid, is an international cooperative organization that negotiates licenses with patent holders of medicines and grants sublicenses to generic manufacturers, enabling the supply of produced products to low- and middle-income countries at affordable prices.

Many pharmaceutical companies worldwide submitted letters of intent for this production opportunity, resulting in licenses granted to 35 companies across 12 countries. In South Korea, Celltrion and Dongbang FTL were selected. Celltrion will handle finished drug production, while Dongbang FTL will produce the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).

Incheon Songdo Celltrion Plant 2 Overview. / Incheon - Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

With this, Celltrion will produce both of the world's most widely used oral COVID-19 treatments, Lagevrio and Paxlovid. Similar to Lagevrio, the development and production of the generic finished product will be managed by its affiliate Celltrion Pharm, and Celltrion will supply the products overseas. A Celltrion representative explained, "To expedite commercialization, we chose to focus on finished product manufacturing rather than producing raw materials." Future production will take place at Celltrion Pharm's cGMP-certified Cheongju plant.

As of this year, the generic market for oral COVID-19 treatments supplied to low- and middle-income countries through international organizations is expected to reach approximately 1.7 trillion KRW. Based on this licensing agreement, Celltrion Group plans to produce and supply Pfizer's generic oral COVID-19 treatment to up to 95 low- and middle-income countries.

A Celltrion Group representative stated, "Securing the Paxlovid generic license reaffirmed our group's chemical drug manufacturing technology and credibility in the global market," adding, "While participating in global efforts to expand access to oral COVID-19 treatments, we will also accelerate global clinical trials of our inhalable cocktail COVID-19 antibody treatment under development to obtain interim results in the shortest possible time."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.