JB Chem in pact with US co for HIV drug

JB Chemicals signs a license pact with Gilead Sciences Inc to manufacture and distribute Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate.

JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd on Friday said it has signed a non-exclusive license agreement with US-based Gilead Sciences Inc to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the anti-HIV drug Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate.

HT Image

Tenofovir, an anti-retroviral drug, is useful in cases which are resistant to other anti-retroviral agents and is indicated for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults.

As per terms of the agreement, Gilead has granted the company a non-exclusive licensing right to manufacture and distribute generic versions of Tenofovir to 95 countries, including India.

The company would register and distribute the drug on its own or through its partners in these countries, it said.

"Through this product, we will be able to meet the needs of patients suffering from HIV in India and in many low-income countries and will continue to expand our basket of ARV products through internal development and licensing agreements to meet the unmet needs of patients suffering from HIV," JB Chemicals Chairman and Managing Director J B Mody said.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate is sold by Gilead under the brand name Viread (R), JB Chemicals said in a communique on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.

Gilead would provide the technological know-how for active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and the finished product and JB Chem would pay a royalty on net sales of the finished product to the US firm bio-pharmaceutical firm.

This was the company's first in-licensing agreement for a patented product and it would continue to scout for such opportunities across therapeutic segments, JB Chem added.