Dr Reddy's To Collaborate With American Pharma Eli Lilly To Produce Baricitinib For Covid Treatment In India

Our collaboration with Lilly will help us make yet another treatment option available to patients in India," said Deepak Sapra, Chief Executive Officer, API and Services, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories

Representational Image (PTI)

Hyderabad: On Wednesday, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd announced that it has entered into a royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company for the manufacture and commercialization of baricitinib in India.

Eli Lilly and Company is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

This partnership comes at a critical juncture in the fight against the pandemic in India and adds to the company's existing range of Covid-19 therapeutics covering the full spectrum from mild to moderate and severe conditions of the disease, and a vaccine, the Hyderabad-based company said.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health, India have given the drug baricitinib a restricted emergency use approval for use in combination with remdesivir for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed Covid-19 in hospitalized adults requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

"From the start, we have been determined to explore every possible avenue against COVID-19. Our collaboration with Lilly will help us make yet another treatment option available to patients in India," said Deepak Sapra, Chief Executive Officer, API and Services, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories according to IANS.

According to media reports, on May 4th, Lilly announced that an initial donation of 400,000 Baricitinib tablets was being made immediately available through the humanitarian aid organization, Direct Relief, to the Indian government for eligible hospitalized Covid-19 patients in India.

Eli Lilly and Company had on May 10th announced voluntary licensing agreements with Sun Pharma, Cipla and Lupin to expedite the availability of Baricitinib for treatment of Covid-19 patients in India.

Dr Reddy's also announced the launch of Ertapenem for Injection, 1 g/vial, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of INVANZ(ertapenem for injection) for injection, 1 g/vial, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

"We are pleased to bring this important product to market at this time," Marc Kikuchi, CEO, North America Generics, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories was quoted by IANS. He added, "We're excited to extend our strategic partnership with Gland Pharma whose hard work, in collaboration with the team at Dr. Reddy's, has enabled the execution of this launch."

"We are delighted about this collaboration, as it brings together Dr. Reddy's experienced marketing and distribution capabilities and Gland Pharma's robust development and manufacturing capabilities. Gland Pharma has an exclusive API supply arrangement for this product and a dedicated manufacturing facility in Hyderabad for Ertapenem Injection. With the launch of this product we see increased capacity utilization of this dedicated Penem facility," said Srinivas Sadu, MD and CEO of Gland Pharma Ltd according to the report.