Demand for 2 originator ARVs could soon exceed supply (3)
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Dear e-druggers,
People living with AIDS that currently use BMS stavudine, may be facing a
shortage. This was recently communicated to MSF by BMS, and was confirmed
in the Wall Street Journal last week ("Demand for Two AIDS Treatments Could
Soon Exceed Supply", e-drug March 9th). In the article Paul Lalvani,
procurement manager for the Global Fund in Geneva, said that some
developing countries "have not been able to access the product".
Considering the shortage of the BMS product it is important to note that on
March 1st, WHO published a new edition of the prequalification list that
included stavudine, and the combination stavudine/lamivudine from the
Indian manufacturer Strides (both 40 mg). The other prequalified option is
Cipla's Triomune, stavudine/lamivudine/nevirapine (both 30 and 40 mg). The
prices for these generic drugs are USD 51/year, USD 142/year and USD
221/year respectively. They can be found in the MSF document "Untangling
the web of price reductions: a pricing guide for the purchase of ARVs for
developing countries", 7th edition, February 2005. (www.accessmed-msf.org).
This case illustrates the importance of having several sources of a drug
available to face shortages and production problems. The originator
companies alone do not have either the financial interest or the capacity
of production to assure supply to developing countries.
* Prices have been adjusted to take into account additional costs.
Fernando Pascual Martmnez
MSF Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
Fernando.PASCUAL@geneva.msf.org