Packages of Pfizer's Paxlovid, an antiviral drug that treats COVID-19. (Photo by Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images) GENEVA (AP) - Nearly three dozen companies worldwide will soon start making generic versions of Pfizer's coronavirus pill, the U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool that negotiated the deal said Thursday.The Medicines Patent Pool said in a statement that agreements signed with 35 companies should help make Pfizer's antiviral nirmatrelvir, or Paxlovoid, available to more than half of the world's population.Get breaking news alerts in the free FOX5NY News app | Sign up for FOX 5 email newslettersGeneric drugmakers across a dozen countries in Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Eastern Europe will begin producing either the raw ingredients for the Pfizer drug or the pill itself.
Among the companies offered a license was one in Ukraine, which has not yet been able to confirm it can participate."This will make an enormous difference for countries." said Charles Gore, executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool.