At a time when many pharmaceutical companies are in the news for pulling out all the stops for extending the exclusivity of their patented drugs and focussing on developing drugs for diseases prevalent in developed countries, Sanofi-aventis, a Paris-based drug company, has truly lived up to its slogan, `Because health matters.’ The anti-malarial fixed-dose combination drug, developed specially for Africa by the company and the non-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDI), will be made available at cost. Malaria is a plague in sub-Saharan Africa, killing more than a million people every year. It is the single largest killer of children under five years. With the miracle drug chloroquine becoming less effective in fighting this disease — on account of malaria parasite developing resistance to it — there has been great compulsion to develop more effective combination drugs based on the Chinese medicinal plant artemisinin. While a combination drug by itself reduces the chances of the parasite developing resistance, making it available as a fixed-dose combination further lowers that possibility and will go a long way in fighting the malaria scourge.

If the involvement of a pharmaceutical company in producing a drug for a neglected disease is by itself laudable, Sanofi-aventis’s decision not to patent the drug meant for the poor sends out a salutary social responsibility message. It is that pharmaceutical companies can serve the cause of public health, in particular the interests of the poorest of the poor, while seeking profits. At a time when substantial numbers of people, especially senior citizens, in the United States are finding the prices of new patented drugs beyond their means, the plight of millions of poor people in developing countries can be imagined. Sanofi-aventis’s decision not to patent the new anti-malarial drug will encourage generic manufacturers to produce it at even cheaper rates. Indian companies can take a lead in this respect. A further reduction in cost will be a boon to the needy who will now pay 50 cents and $1 a day for a three-day paediatric and adult regimen respectively. A partnership between a pharmaceutical company and a non-profit organisation augurs well for the development of drugs for serious but neglected diseases. Making drugs affordable has been one of the main agendas of Medecins sans Frontieres, which along with five other international medical bodies runs DNDI. This is an inspiring example of what can be achieved in the public health field when a drug company joins hands altruistically with a public-funded initiative.
THE HINDU
Friday, Mar 09, 2007
http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/09/stories/2007030902711000.htm