Date: 2013-08-05
Type of information:
Compound: Valcyte® (valganciclovir)
Company: Roche (Switzerland) The Medicines Patent Pool
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
Type agreement: supply
Action mechanism:
Disease: cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections
Details: * On August 5, 2013, Roche and the Medicines Patent Pool have announced an agreement to increase access to Valcyte® (valganciclovir), a key medicine to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. The supply agreement between the Medicines Patent Pool and Roche will substantially improve access to an easy-to-take oral medicine to treat CMV, Valcyte® – by making it up to 90% cheaper in 138 developing and emerging countries than it is currently available. The Medicines Patent Pool and Roche will consider adding more countries to the initial scope if there is a need and will also explore licensing and technology transfer as a second step to help local production of Valcyte and increase access to Valcyte in developing countries.CMV is a viral infection that can result in loss of vision and greater risk of death in people living with HIV. This infection affects around 1 in 10 people living with HIV in low-and middle-income countries. Treatment of CMV is typically difficult to administer, requiring several injections to the eye. This requires hospitalisation of patients and care by highly trained staff , which are often not sufficiently available in developing countries. The oral treatment Valcyte® is an alternative, but due to a number of reasons, including lack of screening and high prices, patients in developing countries have not been able to receive it.Roche has also agreed to license another medicine for use in HIV-related medicines to the Medicines Patent Pool, saquinavir, in case the need arises.
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