NGO Innovarte (Chile) AIS (Peru) and other non-profit organizations, we request Pfizer to end its monopoly on the antiviral drug Paxlovid™ and allow the distribution of generics throughout Latin America.
This treatment reduces the risk of hospitalizations in elderly adults by 85% and helps to combat long Covid. However, it is not available unless it is imported by paying hundreds of dollars.
In April, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of Paxlovid™ in patients at high risk of hospital admission and described it as the best therapeutic option to date for at-risk population and elderly adults.
The health emergency makes urgent the accelerated access to Paxlovid in adequate quantity and conditions. Therefore, Pfizer must include, for ethical and public health reasons, all Latin American countries among those authorized to access generics manufactured in neighboring countries.
Let us remember that the pandemic will not end if it is not controlled worldwide and that we are still far from a solidary distribution of all the tools available to fight it. This letter positively urges Pfizer to include all Latin American countries among those authorized to purchase generic Paxlovid™ treatments, and thus avoid hospitalizations and deaths as a result of their monopoly.
