BDR Pharma in pact with Eli Lilly to make Covid drug

New DelhiDRUG firm BDR Pharma on Wednesday said it has inked a licensing pact with Eli Lilly and Company for the manufacturing and distribution of Baricitinib for the treatment of Covid-19 in India.

The company said it has entered into a royalty-free, limited and non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company. Baricitinib has received restricted emergency use approval, for use in combination with Remdesivir, for treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed Covid-19 in hospitalised adults and pediatric patients two years of age or older, requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Eli Lilly has received the permission for the drug for restricted emergency use from Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, a division of the Ministry of Health. Baricitinib is an oral medication currently registered in India for the treatment of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients who have responded inadequately to, or who are intolerant to one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.