Global Treatment Timebomb
posted: 14/07/2009
The price of new HIV medicines for the world’s poorest need to be reduced urgently according to a report by MPs published today, following a five month inquiry.
The report, The Treatment Timebomb, describes how by 2030 over 50 million people will need HIV treatment compared to just 9 million who need it today.
Second line treatments cost at least 7 times more
In addition, millions of those needing treatment in future will need more expensive medicines, having become resistant to the basic HIV combination therapy. These ‘second-line’ treatments currently cost at least seven times more. When the basic treatment stops working, getting them is a matter of life or death. Some people will also need to switch from the basic combination to newer less-toxic drugs because they experience serious side effects.
“We are sitting on a treatment timebomb.” said David Borrow MP, Chair of The All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS that wrote report. “We must reduce the price of second-line medicines and less toxic first-line medicines before millions need them. We cannot sleepwalk into a situation where we can only afford to treat a tiny proportion of those infected.”
Failing to reach 2010 target of treatment for all
Governments around the world, including the UK, signed up to the goal of ‘Universal Access to HIV treatment, prevention, care and support’ by 2010. The world is not on track to meet this target with only a third of the nine million people who need it having access to HIV treatment. This is despite the fact that for now, most people are on the cheapest therapy.
Pricing cuts were made and need repeating
Cutting the price of medicines is possible. Ten years ago the basic HIV treatment cost over $10,000 per person, per year. Today, thanks to cheaper own-label generic versions, these same medicines are available for just $87 per person enabling 3 million people to be treated across the world.
The report argues that to avoid a treatment crisis these kind of price reductions need to happen again with the newer HIV medicines. It urges pharmaceutical companies to cooperate by allowing generic manufacturers to produce their HIV medicines cheaply for developing countries. It asks them to put their patents into a ‘patent pool’ for this purpose. Over 100 MPs have also signed a motion asking companies to do this, but so far no company has agreed to do so.
Patent Pool
The ‘patent pool’ would also allow researchers to work on making HIV medicines suited to the developing world. Currently many HIV medicines are designed for a developed country market and do not consider issues such as what happens when a person needs to take HIV medicines and TB medicines at the same time. There are also not many special HIV drugs for children, because they have not been developed because drug development is driven by the size of profitable markets and there are hardly any children in the developed world with HIV. The patent pool is being set up by UNITAID, which is part of the World Health Organisation. Drug company GSK has created its own ‘patent pool’ but it has put no HIV drugs into it.
GSK, since the Parliamentary Group's report was released, has announced a 'Positive Action for Children’ Fund, seed funding to research and develop new HIV/AIDS medicines for children, made a commitment to collaborate with other drugs companies to develop fixed-dosed pills, and announced a royalty free licence for abacavir.
The David Burrow, MP, chair of the All Party Group responded:
"The All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS welcomes GSK's new commitments especially on preventing mother to child transmission of HIV, and increasing research on paediatric drugs, both of which are themes of our report, The Treatment Timebomb. The announcement about working with other companies to make fixed dose combinations may also be welcome - but we have no detail yet on what those companies will be and for which medicines.
GSK is taking positive steps, but they are broadly uni-lateral, which will limit their impact. We would like to see them work with UNITAID to create a patent pool which gives fair royalties for their patents; a proposal which DFID and all the major UK charities support."
International Development Minister, Mike Foster, said:
“The simple fact is that the HIV epidemic continues to outstrip our best efforts. Five people are infected with HIV every minute and for every two people put on treatment, there are 5 people newly infected with HIV. This important report reminds us that while it is absolutely vital that we work to reduce the human cost of HIV by focusing our efforts on preventing new infections, we must also face up to the stark reality of the treatment challenge we face. The pharmaceutical industry has an opportunity to act now to help prevent future human catastrophe. It is time for them to state their clear commitment to make new HIV medicines affordable to those who need them most, by working with UNITAID to develop a patent pool”
Download The Treatment Timebomb Report from George House Trust
Download The Treatment Timebomb Report from aidsportal.org
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