Pharmacia to launch pilot programme for expanding access to medicines in the poorest countries

In conjunction with a panel discussion in Davos, Swizerland sponsored by the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative, Pharmacia Corporation announced the launch of a pilot programme as a model for expanding access to needed medicines for the poorest populations in the developing world.

Under the programme, Pharmacia, in partnership with the International Dispensary Association Foundation (IDA), will grant non-exclusive licences for delavirdine (DLV Rescriptor) to generic pharmaceutical companies that agree to manufacture and supply the product to the world’s poorest countries.

DLV is an oral, non-nucleoside reverse transcritpase inhibitor (NNRTI), developed by Pharmacia for use in patients with HIV infection. Delavirdine was approved and launched in the United States in 1997 and is among the antiretroviral therapies recommended by the US Department of Health and Human Services for treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Under the not-for-profit pilot programme, Pharmacia will transfer its proprietary manufacturing technology and regulatory dossier for DLV to IDA. IDA, in turn, will be empowered to select any generic companies that meet its quality manufacturing standards. As the world’s largest non-profit supplier of generic medicines to developing countries and relief agencies, IDA is uniquely positioned to facilitate manufacturing and supply of generic DLV in eligible countries.

The pilot programme has the potential to benefit HIV/AIDS patients in 78 developing countries including all of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa.