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* Gilead deal and strong profits push Hikma shares up 10%
* Remdesivir seen as one of most promising COVID-19
treatments
* Gilead contracting out manufacturing to ensure supplies
(Updating with details throughout)
By Pushkala Aripaka
Aug 7 (Reuters) - Britain's Hikma Pharmaceuticals
said on Friday it has started manufacturing Gilead's
antiviral drug remdesivir under contract in Portugal, as the
U.S. company outsources to increase availability of the COVID-19
treatment.
Remdesivir is one of only two medicines to have shown to
help hospitalised COVID-19 patients in clinical trials, making
it a front-runner treatment for the illness caused by the new
coronavirus.
Hikma's Chief Executive Siggi Olafsson said the company will
start supplying batches of the drug "soon," and Gilead is
expected to distribute it.
"The terms of the deal are confidential, we are simply a
contract manufacturer for Gilead - they order products from us
as they expect the sales to be," Olafsson told Reuters in a
telephone interview.
Remdesivir, which is administered intravenously, has been
conditionally approved or supported in many regions to treat
COVID-19, which has killed more than 800,000 people globally.
A pledge by Gilead to send nearly all of its supplies to the
United States between July and September stirred concerns about
availability elsewhere.
This week, a bipartisan group of U.S. state attorney
generals urged Washington to allow other companies to make the
treatment to increase availability and lower the price.
On Friday, Pfizer said it had signed a multi-year
deal with Gilead to manufacture and supply remdesivir.
Gilead said on Thursday that its manufacturing network for
the drug had grown to more than 40 companies in North America,
Europe and Asia.
The company had said in June that it was aiming to supply
enough of the drug by the end of the year to treat more than 2
million COVID-19 patients, more than double its prior target of
1 million.
Gilead has signed several pacts with generic medicine makers
in Egypt, India and Pakistan to distribute remdesivir in 127
countries. The deals include those with Cipla Jubilant
and privately held Hetero.
Hikma's announcement of the deal with Gilead helped its
shares jump more than 10% on Friday as it also reported a jump
in first-half operating profit and lifted its sales outlook.
Analysts said the deal highlights Hikma's "growing
importance as a trusted source of essential medicines."
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun
Koyyur/Josephine Mason/Susan Fenton)
