But supply of Paxlovid is extremely limited in the short term. Pfizer has said it can produce 120 million courses of treatment this year, but that falls well short of the company's estimate of the 2022 market for antiviral pills of 250 million people globally.
The United States has already agreed to buy 20 million courses of the treatment this year, paying Pfizer more than US$10.5 billion for the pills.
Pfizer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The drugmaker's revenue in 2022 is expected to top US$100 billion, according to analyst estimates, more than half of that from sales of Paxlovid and its COVID-19 vaccine.
The company has not disclosed how many courses of Paxlovid it expects to sell to low- and middle-income countries through a tiered system in which lower-income countries pay less than upper-middle income and high-income countries.
Pfizer also will allow generic manufacturers to supply the pills in low and middle countries representing 48 per cent of the world's population. But the company does not expect those generic companies to be able to provide significant supply until 2023.
Public Citizen also called on Pfizer to help accelerate the entry of generic manufacturers by providing deeper technical assistance and sharing regulatory information, and to expand the number of countries in which generic manufacturers would be allowed to sell the drug.
Artmotion Asia
