Philippines, Indonesia to get life-saving cancer drug in historic licensing agreement
- The deal sets ‘a vital precedent’, says chief of UN-backed public health organisation working to increase access to life-saving medicines in poorer countries
- Licence for generic versions of nilotinib includes seven middle-income countries: the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Guatemala
Swiss-based global pharmaceutical giant Novartis has signed a licensing agreement increasing access to a vital leukaemia treatment, a UN-backed public health organisation said on Thursday, marking the first-ever such agreement for a cancer drug.
The deal will give selected manufacturers the opportunity to develop, manufacture and supply generic versions of nilotinib, a twice-daily oral medication used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).
“Access to high-quality cancer medicines is a crucial component of the global health response to the cancer burden,” said Charles Gore, head of the Medicines Patent Pool, the United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to life-saving medicines in poorer countries.
While the remaining patent period for nilotinib was “relatively short”, he said the licensing deal set “a vital precedent that I hope other companies will follow”, Gore said in a statement.
Novartis president of global health and sustainability Lutz Hegemann said the company was “proud to be pioneering this new licensing model with MPP”.
