HIV Babies At Risk?

posted: 08/06/2010

The drug giant Bristol Myers Squibb seems about to shut down their factory in France that makes the only cheap HIV treatment drug that keeps up to 7,000 babies alive in the developing world. Bristol Myers Squibb’s chief executive Lamberto Andreotti has so far ignored a letter of protest from some of the board members of UNITAID – the part of the UN that aims to improve access to HIV treatments in poor countries, especially in Africa.
 

On their website UNITAID say

‘it is deeply concerned that the provision of a key paediatric AIDS medicine produced by Bristol Myers Squibb will be interrupted in June 2010 until at least April 2011. The medicine, didanosine 25 mg and 50 mg, is supplied by UNITAID through the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to between 4,000-7,000 infants in 40 countries. Interruption of treatment would seriously jeopardize these young children's survival.
 

UNITAID urges Bristol Myers Squibb to take all the necessary measures to ensure continued supply of quality, lifesaving didanosine 25 mg and 50 mg for the duration of its transition of its manufacturing site so as to avoid interruption of treatment for the children whose lives depend on it. UNITAID will continue to monitor the situation closely.’
 

Public Letter

Since the drug giant has not replied, UNITAID board members, representing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and communities affected by HIV/AIDS of the Geneva-based organisation, have gone public with their complaint and plea.
This is what they say:
 

Dear Mr Andreotti,
We, the UNITAID board members representing NGOs, and Communities affected by HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, are writing to you to express our deep concern that Bristol-Myers Squibb is to close a factory in France that manufactures a second line anti-retroviral medicine for children infected with HIV/AIDS who weigh less than 10 kg: buffered didanosine (ddI) in the 25 mg formulation.

Closing this factory means that 4,000 to 7,000 babies currently enrolled in treatment plans in developing countries through UNITAID could be left without the medicines they need. Didanosine is the last therapeutic option for these babies and without it they may die. We understand that closure of the plant will take place in June of this year, with no plans for resumption of production before April of 2011 at the earliest when a new plant is due to open. Therefore there is likely to be a shortage of approximately 15,000 packs of ddI 25 mg, across all UNITAID beneficiary countries between now and when production is expected to resume in April 2011. Currently, there is no alternative generic product that has been assessed by WHO and prequalified for use by UN agencies.

We urge you, as the Chief Executive Officer of BMS, a company that prides itself on its high standards of corporate responsibility, to respond urgently to our concerns, outlining the steps you will take to avoid any treatment interruption. We would also like your confirmation that a BMS plant will resume production of this vital medicine in 2011.

We look forward to hearing from you.
 

Source

HIV Drugs Patent Pool

posted: 18/12/2009

An international agreement to pool drug patents for HIV treatments has just been launched, putting even more pressure on drug companies to give up their monopoly rights to HIV drugs. The idea is to make low cost treatment far more widely available in poorer countries.
 

Unitaid, an international drug purchasing facility, voted for the pool in Geneva this week. It was welcomed by campaigners and the British government, which has strongly backed the idea.
 

Campaigners say millions of lives could be saved by drug companies giving up their patent rights to allow anti-HIV drugs to be produced cheaply by generic manufacturers. It would also allow different companies' drugs to be combined in simple-to-take multi-drug combination pills for people in the developing world.
 

The rich multi-national patent-holding drug companies would get a royalty in exchange while keeping their exclusive 20-year patent rights in wealthy countries.
 

'Victory' for developing world
"The Unitaid decision is a huge victory for those in need of HIV treatment around the world," Diarmaid McDonald, the co-ordinator of the umbrella group Stop Aids, said. "It will help to break down the patent barriers which stop people getting the drugs they need to stay alive. Unitaid and the UK government should be commended for their leadership on this." McDonald said the focus "now shifts to the big drug companies", adding: "It will test the sincerity of their rhetoric on helping the most vulnerable in our world."
 

People Campaigning

A grass roots campaign is asking people to email the ten leading drug multi-nationals with HIV patents to ask them to take the patent pool plunge.

Drug companies divided
"Companies like Gilead and Merck showed real leadership within the industry by speaking positively of the patent pool – they must now go beyond words and contribute their patents to the pool. The pressure will be on others within the industry to follow or to explain why they are willing to turn their backs on an initiative with such huge potential to save lives."
 

A small number of companies have so far shown a willingness to discuss flexibility over their patents, but the British firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) – a leading manufacturer of HIV drugs – is not interested.
Andrew Witty, GSK’s chief executive, said this summer that he had reservations and believed the company's price cuts and other initiatives would produce better results.
 

GSK under more pressure
McDonald said there had been meetings with GSK, but stressed that the company was a long way from committing to any involvement. "They have come up with lengthy questions and hesitations and concerns about the patent pool and have been less than co-operative in how they have engaged with the Unitaid task force," he added. "The pressure is going to increase on GSK to justify their rationale for walking away from an initiative which could save millions of lives."

Treatment at the crossroads
The international development minister, Mike Foster, applauded the board's decision. "The international community is at a crossroads in meeting the demand for HIV treatment," he said. "Last year, 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV and 2 million people died from Aids – the need to make effective HIV medicines affordable for developing countries has never been greater. The Unitaid patent pool could be a key means of addressing the treatment crisis."
 

The UK is a founder member of Unitaid, along with Chile, Brazil, Norway and France. Much of its funding comes from a tax on airlines.
 

Michelle Childs, the policy director at Médecins Sans Frontières, the volunteer doctors organisation that pioneered the use of HIV drugs in the developing world, said the pool would be judged by its outcome. "We've been encouraged by the positive responses from a number of companies to our campaign in support of the pool," she said.
 

"Now that the pool has been given a green light, patent holders need to move from expressions of general support to firm and formal license commitments. We urge them to do so. This needs to happen fast as the clock is ticking for millions of patients."
 

Source

Unitaid report