Eli Lilly and EVA Pharma have formed a partnership to increase the availability of baricitinib in 49 low to middle-income African countries by 2030.

Baricitinib is a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor indicated for Covid-19, adults with severe alopecia areata and those with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have not responded adequately to tumour necrosis factor blockers.

The initiative is part of Lilly's 30x30 strategy, which seeks to enhance health care for 30 million people in resource-limited areas annually by 2030.

Incyte discovered baricitinib, which is licensed to Lilly and marketed under the brand name Olumiant.

The collaboration will utilise EVA Pharma's high-containment facility, which is poised to begin distributing locally manufactured baricitinib by 2026 to the agreed territories.

The agreement will leverage the pan-African network of EVA Pharma and its local production capabilities, which adhere to international standards.

This enables Lilly to extend the medicine’s reach to regions where access to such treatments is often limited.

Lilly International executive vice-president and president Ilya Yuffa stated: "Our commitment to expanding access to affordable and innovative medicines for people living in low to middle-income countries continues.

“Following our collaboration with EVA Pharma on insulin manufacturing, we are now establishing the first of its kind voluntary licensing agreement for Lilly, where the company will provide certain baricitinib manufacturing know-how to enable EVA Pharma to manufacture and supply baricitinib to people in 49 countries across Africa.”

EVA Pharma has been collaborating with Lilly since 2021 to ensure a consistent supply of essential medicines in a number of African nations.

The two companies are working together to enhance the affordability and accessibility of insulin in 56 primarily low to middle-income countries, as disclosed in 2022.

EVA Pharma CEO Riad Armanious stated: “We are proud to localise the entire value chain of this critical medication on the continent, from producing high-potency baricitinib active pharmaceutical ingredients to tackling complex manufacturing challenges.”

The latest development comes after Lilly expanded a commercial agreement, under which Organon will be the sole distributor and promoter of the migraine medication Emgality (galcanezumab) in 11 new markets.