The American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer pledged on Wednesday to sell some of its drugs and vaccines at cost to 45 poor countries, as part of an initiative announced at the Davos Economic Forum.
“With all that we have learned and accomplished over the past two years, now is the time to start closing the gap further ‘between’ those who can access these innovations and those who cannot,” said the CEO. of the pharmaceutical giant Albert Bourla, during a press conference presenting the initiative in Switzerland.
Very prominent in the elite of world bosses since the success of his vaccine once morest Covid-19, the leader was accompanied on stage by the heads of state of Rwanda and Malawi, signatories of the agreement.
“Pfizer’s commitment sets a new standard that we hope to see imitated by others,” said Rwandan Paul Kagame, hailing an “important step towards sustainable health security”.
Besides these two states, Ghana, Uganda and Senegal have already joined this agreement which focuses on five therapeutic areas: infectious diseases, oncology, rare diseases, inflammatory diseases and women’s health.
It will increase access to Pfizer’s patented medicines and vaccines available in the United States and European Union for nearly 1.2 billion people.
– 23 vaccines and drugs –
A total of 23 of the company’s vaccines and drugs are patented in the fields concerned. This includes, for example, several cancer treatments, but also the antiviral Paxlovid and the Pfizer vaccine once morest Covid-19.
If a better price has been negotiated elsewhere as part of equity efforts in the fight once morest the pandemic, this is the one that will apply, Pfizer said. Selling at cost means that only manufacturing costs and transport expenses will be charged in the countries concerned.
“We are excluding all the money needed for research, all the money needed for manufacturing, all the legal fees to make the contracts and all the administrative costs,” Bourla said Wednesday.
Furthermore, if other drugs are developed in the future in these areas, they will automatically be included in the agreement.
The agreement is intended to eventually apply to all low-income countries and 18 low- to middle-income countries, as defined by the World Bank.
Pfizer’s announcement “will facilitate access to some of its essential treatments, and hopefully allow a better fight once morest targeted diseases”, commented to AFP Amesh Adalja, specialist in infectious diseases.
– Exclusion clauses? –
“The devil is in the details,” said Farasat Bokhari, a health economist at the University of East Anglia in England, who wonders whether these agreements include volume commitments or exclusion clauses that prevent other companies from marketing equivalent drugs.
In addition to the agreement with the five signatory countries on the distribution of vaccines and drugs, Pfizer must also work with them to identify the necessary changes – particularly in terms of procedures, infrastructure or training of healthcare personnel – so that these treatments +ents actually reach the patients.
Albert Bourla also said on Wednesday that the pharmaceutical giant continued to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the objective of developing new vaccines.
“Partnerships with companies like Pfizer have been essential to the progress we have made,” responded billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates, also present in Davos, citing the example of the pneumococcal vaccine.
Infectious diseases kill nearly a million people every year in these poor countries, according to Pfizer.
