Sputnik have led to loss of precious time as the world’s second-most populous nation was ramping up its inoculation drive. Even as oral Covid pills from Pfizer Inc.
and Merck are being hailed as game changers in the fight to curb the pandemic, generic drugmakers are getting a reality check that there may not be too much money on the table for them.
With nearly every country eager to secure a drug stockpile -- the disease looks on course to becoming endemic -- the mounting pressure to ensure drug access is forcing innovators to sign a bevy of production pacts. Sublicenses Dr Reddy’s, for instance, is one of five Merck licensees in India.