The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Friday it had reached an agreement with Pfizer to ensure continued access to the antiviral Paxlovid for the next few years as it prepares to transition the drug into the commercial market.
HHS said the agreement “maximizes taxpayer investment.”
“This agreement builds on HHS and Pfizer’s strong partnership over the last three years that enabled the development, manufacture, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics at a record pace,” the department said in a statement.
Since it was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2021 to treat the coronavirus, Paxlovid has been distributed for free by the government. HHS said the transition to commercialization will begin in November.
The federal government has purchased tens of millions of doses of the medicine at a discounted price from Pfizer, which has agreed to provide an additional 1 million treatment courses for the Strategic National Stockpile.