Essential Medicines News

Andrew Jack, “GSK Varies Prices to Raise Sales,” The Financial Times, 16 March 2008.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has begun a scheme of tiered pricing of its medicines in low- and middle-income countries. The policy is being tested in India, South Africa and Morocco, to ensure the greatest availability of their products, while still recovering R&D […]

“Microbicide Developer Receives License for Novel HIV Microbicide Candidate from Merch & Co., Inc.,” International Partnership for Microbicides Press Release, 11 March 2008.
Merck has agreed to provide a full royalty-free license for L’644, a gp41 fusion inhibitor, to the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) for development as a potential vaginal microbicide for women in […]

Nicholas Zamiska, “Thai Ministry to Recommend Ignoring Patents on Cancer Drugs,” Wall Street Journal, 11 March 2008.
Nopporn Wong-Anan, “Thailand Will Override Cancer Drug Patents,” Reuters, 10 March 2008.
Thailand’s health minister, Chaiya Sasomsap, is urging the government to continue issuing compulsory licenses, in particular for drugs to treat cancer. As such, Novartis has agreed […]

Caroline Alphonso, “Protein May Lead to HIV Vaccine,” Globe and Mail, 4 March 2008.
A recent article, published in Nature Medicine, takes a look at the role of the protein, FOX03a, in the survival of memory cells in “elite controllers”, HIV-positive individuals who naturally maintain viral loads at or below the limits of infection. […]

“Trial Shows Anti-HIV Microbicide Is Safe, but Does Not Prove It Effective,” Population Council Press Release, 18 February 2008.
Initial results from trials in South African women with the microbicide, Carraguard, to prevent the transmission of HIV show no significant difference between the study and control groups. Nevertheless, researchers still hope that the gel might be […]

Ben Feller, “Bush: Conflicts Not Focus of Africa Trip” Associated Press, 16 February 2008.
American President George W. Bush is touring the African continent for the first time since 2003. Along with democratic reform, US assistance in the area of malaria and HIV/AIDS are to be discussed as he visits during the upcoming week. […]

Lawrence Altman, “Tests of Drug to Block H.I.V. Infection Are Halted Over Safety” New York Times,  1 February 2007.
The microbicide trials involved a chemical, cellulose sulfate or Ushercell. One of the latest trials found an increased risk of H.I.V. infection among women who used cellulose sulfate compared with those who used a placebo gel. The decision to […]

Erika Check, “The Treasure of Mumbai,” Wired. December 2006.
Cipla is an Indian pharmaceutical company that took advantage of past Indian drug patent laws that made patents apply not to the chemical compounds themselves but to the processes used to manufacture them. In India, Cipla was able to sell its own version of other company’s drugs […]

Shahin Lockman, et al. “Response to antiretroviral therapy after a single, peripartum dose of nevirapine,” New England Journal of Medicine, 11 January 2007.
Investigators found that waiting for six months to start nevirapine-based antiretroviral therapy can help to prevent drug resistance in HIV-positive women who took a dose of nevirapine during labor in effort to prevent […]

James Love, “The high prices we pay for government funded inventions,” Huffington Post, 9 January 2007.
“Re: Federal Procurement of Patented Drugs under Statutory Licenses,” letter to Office of Management and Budget, Essential Inventions, 5 January 2007.
In the United States, the Bayh-Dole Act allowed recipients of federal government research grants to retain intellectual property rights on […]