Roche allows Valcyte access
pharmafile | August 5, 2013 | News story | Sales and Marketing | HIV, Roche, valcyte
Roche has signed a deal with a United Nations initiative to open up access to an oral drug which is aimed at sufferers from a virus that affects people living with HIV.
Valcyte (valganciclovir) is used to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV), a viral infection that can lead to blindness in a significant proportion of people living with HIV.
The agreement has been made with the Medicines Patent Pool, a UN-backed initiative that aims to open up access to HIV treatments, and will make the brand up to 90% cheaper than is currently the case in 138 developing and emerging countries.
CMV causes an infection that attacks the retina of the eye in patients with suppressed immune systems, and affects one in ten people living with HIV in low and middle-income nations mainly in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
“This agreement demonstrates how working together can improve the availability of treatments for people in resource-limited countries,” said Daniel O’Day, chief operating officer of Roche Pharma.
The partnership will break a cycle of lack of screening and treatment in many countries, a statement from the Medicines Patent Pool says.
“With medicines available, HIV treatment providers can work on wider diagnosis and treatment and prevent avoidable blindness in people living with HIV,” said its executive director Greg Perry.
There is also scope to add more countries to the list and the possibility of licensing and technology transfer deals in a bid to help local production of Valcyte.
CMV is usually treated by several injections to the eye, which means an oral treatment is a substantial advantage for patients – although lack of screening and high prices have barred access to the drug in developing countries.
Lowering the price so drastically will help create a new market for the drug, giving Valcyte a far wider reach and making it more attractive to governments and public health authorities.
Roche has also agreed to license another medicine HIV-related drug, saquinavir, to the Medicines Patent Pool, if required.
Adam Hill
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