| From: |
Adeyemo Gabriel [ profile ] |
| Subject: |
Getting HIV drugs to poor nations....
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| Sent: |
Mar 13th, 2011 - 17:04:24 |
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Source:* The Star-Ledger*
AUTHOR: Susan Todd
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2011/02/getting_hiv_drugs_to_poor_nati.html
Fellow Advocates,
Johnson & Johnson's Tibotec Pharmaceuticals is engaging three overseas
generic drugmakers in licensing agreements to help speed up the delivery of
one of its AIDS drugs. A novel aspect to the agreements is that the
non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, rilpivirine, has not yet
been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, Tibotec hopes to
hasten access to the antiretroviral in resource-constrained, high-prevalence
countries.
Through agreements with India-based Matrix Laboratories and Hetero Drugs and
South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare, Tibotec may get rilpivirine into
sub-Saharan and Indian markets earlier. The generic producers would pay
royalties of 2 percent to 5 percent. Under the agreements, Tibotec provides
manufacturing technical information to the generics firms, which are
responsible for gaining regulatory approval and pre-qualification from the
World Health Organization. With WHO pre-qualification, the generic
drugmakers can start selling to some public health agencies ahead of
approvals by each individual government.
Tibotec's approach may help cut years of lag-time common in many of the
markets covered, said Jeff Sturchio, CEO of the Global Health Council. "Most
of the people affected by the disease live in the countries covered by these
agreements," he said. "We want to expand access to the drug as quickly as we
can where Johnson & Johnson doesn't have reach, in terms of logistics and
manufacturing capability, and doing it at a price that's more affordable,"
said Will Stephens, vice president of global access and partnerships with
Titusville, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica.
Aspen is licensed to distribute rilpivirine throughout sub-Saharan Africa
and South Africa, while Hetero and Matrix will cover India and parts of the
sub-Saharan region.
--
Many Thanks
Yours' in Prevention Science
Adeyemo Damilare Gabriel
Regional Focal Point - West Africa
Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AID (GYCA)
+234-80-6798-7317 | gabriel (at) gyca.org
www.gyca.org | www.tigweb.org
GYCA is a youth-led global network of more than 4,500 young leaders and
adult allies working on youth and HIV/AIDS in 150 countries world-wide.
GYCA's mission is to empower young leaders with the skills, knowledge,
resources and opportunities they need to scale up HIV/AIDS interventions
amongst their peers.
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