Sun Pharma has entered into a royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company Lilly for expanding access to Lillys drug, baricitinib in India. Sun Pharma will manufacture and distribute the drug in India.
Baricitinib is used 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). The drug is approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for restricted emergency use in India.
Kirti Ganorkar, CEO-India business, Sun Pharma, said, “Through this collaboration, we aim to join our forces with Lilly to accelerate access to baricitinib in India at a time when it is most needed. This is another step by Sun Pharma towards making more treatment options available to patients in India for dealing with the pandemic.”
Baricitinib, a once-daily, oral JAK inhibitor was discovered by Incyte and licensed to Lilly. It is approved in the U.S. and more than 75 countries as a treatment for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis and was recently approved in the European Union and Japan for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis who are candidates for systemic therapy. Baricitinib is authorized for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in combination with remdesivir, for treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in hospitalized adults and pediatric patients 2 years of age or older, requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Baricitinib has not been approved for the treatment of COVID-19, but has been authorized for emergency use by the USFDA.
