Gilead grants non-exclusive licenses to Indian Cos.

Gilead Sciences has signed non-exclusive license agreements with three Indian pharma companies, namely, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Hetero Drugs and Strides Arcolabs for manufacturing and marketing generic versions of its anti-AIDS drug --- Viread, generically known as Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate, for which patent application is pending for grant with Indian Patent Office. According to terms of agreement these companies would legally manufacture and market generic versions of Viread to 95 low-income countries around the world including India. Earlier in February 2006, Pune-based Emcure has also entered into a royalty-free technology deal with Bristol-Myer Squibb to make AIDS drug --- Atazanvir Sulphate for India and the African countries. For Hetero Drugs, this is the second deal after Roche signed a sub-license agreement in December 2005 for Tamiflu, generically known as Oseltamivir Phosphate.