E-DRUG: Ivernmectin availability
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Dear E-drug Colleague:
Any lack of availability of ivermectin for all appropriate uses requires
attention. At the same time, it is helpful to consider the issue within the larger framework. The Merck Mectizan Donation Program, having begun in October 1987, is among the longest-sustained public health projects in recent history. Merck is committed to donate Mectizan (ivermectin) for river blindness (onchocerciasis) until the disease is eliminated as a public health problem. In 1998, Merck extended its commitment to include prevention of lymphatic filariasis in African countries where the disease co-exists with onchocerciasis.
Accordingly, the task of meeting patents' needs for ivermectin for
indications not met through Merck's donations program should be addressed without discouraging that program and its collaborations with numerous agencies, including many MOHs and PQMD NGOs. We understand that ivermectin for indications not covered by the donation program is sold by Merck (as STROMECTOL), and as generic ivermectin from at least one supplier.
A word of caution about using veterinary formulations in human medicine: we are advised that Merck's ivermectin products for human and for animal use are separate entities, formulated differently and manufactured using very different manufacturing processes; they and are not intended to be interchanged. This is true for a number of medicines used in both human and veterinary medicine. In such cases, no assumption of interchangeability is warranted in the absence of convincing evidence of safety and efficacy in man.
James B. Russo
Executive Director
The Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (www.pqmd.org)
146 Koenig Rd.
Bernville, PA 19506
USA
610 488 8303
610 488 7036 (fax)
484 269 6470 (mobile)
jbrusso@pqmd.org