Roche Cuts Prices of AIDS Drugs
BASEL, Switzerland
Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said it had decided to extend substantial cuts in the price of its HIV/AIDS drugs sold in poorer countries.
A pack of 270 Viracept pills, equivalent to one month's treatment, will be sold for US$67 in African and other least developed countries hardest hit by the disease. It will also be sold at US$221 to US$309 in low to middle income countries. It now sells for $413 wholesale in Switzerland.
Drug companies have been severely criticized for the high prices of HIV/AIDS drugs in poor countries, where life-saving treatments are virtually unaffordable for most people affected by the disease.
Roche had already implemented a "no-profit" pricing on the drug two years ago for use with children in poor countries, but it said that the new cut was aimed at the adult formulation. The company will also extend its "no-profit" pricing policy to Invirase for adults to US$70.30 and US$221 respectively.
"The 'no-profit' prices... are the lowest at which the products can be provided in a sustainable manner. They do not reflect research or development costs, marketing costs, distribution costs, or company overheads," Roche said. But it added retail prices "may vary significantly."
The prices, which will only be charged to governments, nonprofit health care organizations and nongovernmental organizations are for direct supply from Roche's Basel headquarters, and do not include freight and storage costs.
"The 'no-profit' prices are designed to facilitate greatest possible access to Invirase and Viracept in these hardest hit regions of the world, and we will request these governments to eliminate tax and duty mark-ups for these essential medicines," William Burns, head of Roche Pharma, said.
Roche's step was welcomed by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the medical relief group that had targeted the company in its campaign for cheaper AIDS medicines.
"We are very pleased with this price reduction, and glad to see that Roche acknowledges that its pricing policy was flawed," MSF's Daniel Berman said.
Berman said that the struggle to achieve the price cuts showed the limitations of a voluntary system and said the production of generic, patent-free medicines remained the best way of driving down the cost of treatment.
AFP
WHO Hails Pharmacia
GENEVA
The World Health Organization has hailed the US drug firm Pharmacia's decision to license a Dutch group to provide developing countries with a generic treatment for HIV/AIDS.
"WHO welcomes new initiatives by some innovator companies to license their patents for certain HIV/AIDS medicines to generic manufacturers," the WHO said, noting that "voluntary licensing can increase competition, reduce prices, and give poorer people greater access to medicines."
Pharmacia said it has entered into a partnership with the Dutch foundation International Dispensary Association (IDA) to grant nonexclusive licenses for the HIV/AIDS drug Delavirdine to generic pharmaceutical companies. Pharmacia is to transfer proprietary manufacturing technology and a regulatory dossier for Delavirdine to the IDA, which will select generic companies that meet its manufacturing standards.
The company said the not-for-profit pilot program has the potential to benefit HIV/AIDS patients in 78 developing countries, including all of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The British group GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's largest pharmaceutical company, has already signed a similar agreement with African drug manufacturers.
AFP
Programs for Autistic Kids
BURR RIDGE, Illinois
The Autism Center for Excellence, public outreach provider of the Giant Steps Illinois school, is offering educational programs for children with autism, their families, and educators. These are:
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A sensory integration workshop for parents of autistic children and education professionals on April 17 and 18;
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New classes, plus sessions on music and play therapy or motor and academic instruction starting April 21; and
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Workshop on communication strategies and visual support systems on April 22 and 23.
Interested parties may call 1-630-4555730 or visit the center's web
site, www.GiantStepsIllinois.org to get more information about the programs.
PRNewswire
Oui to Botox
PARIS
Botox, the wrinkle-erasing treatment of choice for ageing celebrities and the vain, will be legally available as a cosmetic prescription in France starting April after authorities gave marketing authorization to one company, Allergan.
Priced at around US$450 per treatment and available under the brand name Vistabel, botox will likely fuel a fad that started in the United States, where the number of such injections has risen 15 times in the last four years.
Technically known as botulinum toxin, botox is a powerful neurotoxin that has been used around the world for the past two decades for serious neuromuscular disorders.
In recent years, though, its cosmetic qualities in paralyzing facial muscles and thus giving foreheads a relaxed, wrinkle-free appearance have driven a frenzied demand from men and women wanting to look younger.
Even in France, before the legal authorization was issued, treatment was conducted surreptitiously by doctors unwilling to see their clients go to the 18 countries, among them the US, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland, where the product is currently openly marketed as a wrinkle-remover.
Global sales of botox have risen from US$25 million in 1993 to an estimated US$430 million last year. In the US there have even been "botox parties," where champagne-guzzling socialites are injected with the drug.
The British Medical Journal last November warned that many aspects of botox's long-term impact on health have never been explored, especially on the nervous system, and underlined that the drug can cause fatal paralysis in large doses.
But the author of the editorial, Dr. Peter Misra, a consultant at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, later toned down his words, saying there was no reason to think that side effects might or might not appear.
And a spokesman for Allergan said that the case of one patient discovering wrinkles creasing a different area of his face after treatment "never appeared during our clinical trials."
He explained that Vistabel was only to be prescribed and used on vertical wrinkles between a patient's eyebrows, and only when there was deemed to be a psychological benefit.
AFP
Novartis Posts 4% Hike in 2002 Profits
PARIS
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis reported record results for the sixth year in a row and an upbeat outlook, adding that it had significantly raised its stake in rival Roche.
Novartis said net profit in 2002 rose four percent to 7.31 billion Swiss francs (US$5.3 billion). Analysts had expected net profit of between 7.20 billion and 7.40 billion Swiss francs. Sales last year increased by two percent to 32.4 billion Swiss francs from 31.6 billion in 2001, the company said.
"We are pleased to report record results for the sixth consecutive year since Novartis was created," the group's chief executive Daniel Vasella said.
For 2003, Novartis said it sees continued "dynamic" sales growth and higher net and operating profit.
Novartis also announced it had increased its participation last year in the capital of its Swiss rival Roche. The group paid 2.9 billion Swiss francs to increase its voting shares in Roche to 32.7 percent from 21.3 percent. Novartis had already paid 5.1 billion Swiss francs in 2001 for Roche shares held by Swiss financier Martin Ebner, Novartis finance director Raymond Breu said.
"It's a question of a long-term investment," he said.
Currently, 50.1 percent of Roche's shares with voting rights are held by the families of the founding group of the pharmaceutical company.
Mr. Vasella said Novartis was aiming for the "magic ceiling" of 33.3 percent of Roche voting rights to hold a blocking minority.
Roche spokesman Daniel Piller said Roche's strategy remained unchanged, and would continue to focus on pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. "We want to remain an independent company with organic growth based on alliances, acquisitions, or cooperation," he said.
AFP
On-line Health Microinsurance Course
Cooperatives can now join the cyber education scene at
www.ipmh.org with the recent launch by the NATCCO Resource Center for Health of its on-line health microinsurance course for cooperatives.
The program targets the on-line enrollment of cooperatives venturing into health microinsurance, a scheme that mobilizes resources through risk-sharing to finance the health-care needs of its members bases on solidarity and shared responsibility.
"The HMI course was designed to meet the needs of managers of cooperatives who will will be responsible for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of their health microinsurance needs," says Eloisa Barbin, deputy director of the Institute of Public Health Management which developed the course.
"Cooperatives are filling in the gaps in the delivery of health services," adds Barbin. "They are putting up health clinics, conducting medical missions, and installing microinsurance systems for the benefit of their members and dependents.
Ms. Barbin, however, notes that these managers need togain a deeper knowledge of the business and medical aspects of health care to come up with integrated and effective health programs.
The course covers topics on the national health situation, concepts in health-care financing, HMI system for cooperatives, social mapping and stakeholder analysis, designing benefit packages for cooperatives, and project implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
The NRCH is a joint undertaking of the National Confederation of Cooperatives and IPHM. It is associated with 1,500 cooperatives in the country, which have the power to affect the lives of 5.5 million Filipinos. It has acquired the services of IPHM's Center for Health Microinsurance (CHMI) to install HMI systems in the country. The project is supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Canadian Cooperative Association (CCA).
Inquiries may be sent to IPHM at 24F Malingap Street, Teachers' Village, Quezon City. IPMH
may also be reached by phone (+6 32 4359254 L700), e-mail
aloy@iphm.org,
or through its web site www.iphm.org.
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