AbbVie Waives Restrictions On Making Generic Copies Of Its HIV Pill That May Treat COVID-19

AbbVie is waiving all restrictions on licenses for its HIV drug, Kaltera, to allow it to be made anywhere in the world after it was shown to be somewhat effective in treating COVID-19 in preliminary trials, STAT reported.

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A nonprofit group called the Medicines Patent Pool has had licensing rights to the drug for the last five years. The deal was criticized for being too restrictive, as high-income countries were denied access to the drug, according to STAT.

Since Kaltera has shown to be somewhat effective in treating COVID-19, AbbVie said it would dedicate the intellectual property rights for the drug to the public.

“The big win here may be for people for HIV. Access to [Kaltera] has been a battle for years,” Ellen ‘t Hoen, a senior researcher in the global health unit at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, told STAT.

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