If this is not your name, click here.
| | If this is not your name, click here. | | |
| | Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague | | |
| |  DG DISPATCH - AIDS 2000: Drug Maker Promises To Provide Viramune (Nevirapine) To HIV-infected Pregnant Women By Ed Susman Special to DG News
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA -- July 10, 2000 -- Viramune (nevirapine), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase drug, found to prevent transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from a pregnant mother to her unborn child, will be offered free to women in developing countries. The German pharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelhim, has announced it will give Nevirapine, marketed as Viramune. The announcement was made as the XIII International AIDS Conference opened this weekend in Durban, South Africa. Pharmaceutical companies have come under attack because of perceived high cost of the anti-AIDS drugs. In a statement, Rolf Krebs, vice chairman of the board of managing directors at Boehringer Ingelheim, Ingelheim, Germany, said that nevirapine will be offered free of charge for a period of five years for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in developing economies. Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS (The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS), said, "Boehringer Ingelheim's offer is a significant development in helping to make the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV a reality in the developing world." Mr. Krebs said the initiative is part of Boehringer Ingelheim's commitment to the collaborative effort with five companies -- also Bristol-Myers Squibb, F. Hoffman-La Roche, Glaxo Wellcome and Merck & Co., Inc. -- international organizations such as the World Health Organization, World Bank, UNICEF and UNAIDS, and committed governments to explore practical ways of working together to make HIV/AIDS care available. Nevirapine, which has been studied in women in Uganda and South Africa, holds great promise for reducing mother-to-child HIV transmissions in the developing world because it represents a short and simple regimen, which can be easily administered in a resource-poor environment," said Brooks Jackson, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, MD. "While more needs to be known and done before nevirapine can be safely administered on a wide scale in many countries, this offer holds out great hope for many millions of women," Dr. Piot said. Mr. Krebs said his company will adhere to the WHO guidelines for drug donations to ensure that nevirapine is donated to the developing countries with the greatest need. However, the offer was greeted with some skepticism. Dr. Nono Simelela, MD, head of the South Africa HIV and STD Programme, said, "Boehringer Ingelheim hasn't come to the table with this offer. The company has just put out a press release. We don't know what it means. The company hasn’t even registered nevirapine for this indication in South Africa. For these reasons, it is not easy for us to comment on the offer." Nevirapine is marketed world-wide by Boehringer Ingelheim and in the United States by Columbus, Ohio-based Roxane Laboratories, also a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies.
Related Links: Viramune (nevirapine), Boehringer Ingelheim and Roxane Laboratories.
|
