Novartis signs commitment with WHO to provide leprosy drugs
Free donation will treat 1.1 million patients
Novartis has agreed with the World Health Organization (WHO) to continue its efforts to eliminate leprosy.
The Basel, Switzerland-based drugmaker has signed a new five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the WHO to provide free multidrug therapy (MDT) leprosy drugs to all countries worldwide.
The donation to the WHO, valued at about US$26m, will treat an estimated 1.1 million leprosy patients over the next five years.
Novartis will also provide up to US$2.5m over the same period to cover costs incurred by the WHO for handling the donation and logistics.
‘Over the past 10 years, we have worked with the WHO to provide free treatment to leprosy patients globally. We have made tremendous progress, but the battle has not yet been completely won,’ said Joseph Jimenez, ceo of Novartis.
‘We are committed to ensuring that patients receive the medications they need and we intend to contribute to this programme until the final elimination of this debilitating disease.’
Novartis and the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development (NFSD) have a long-term commitment to treat and control leprosy. Since 2000 they have donated more than 45 million MDT blister packs, the treatment recommended by the WHO, which have helped cure approximately 5 million leprosy patients worldwide.
MDT consists of three drugs (rifampicin, clofazimine and dapsone), two of which (rifampicin and clofazimine) were developed in the research laboratories of Novartis in the 1980s. Multidrug therapy has made it possible to cure patients, interrupt the transmission of leprosy and prevent disabilities. Even patients with the severest form of the disease show visible clinical improvement within weeks of starting treatment, says Novartis.
The new MoU (effective from January 2011 through to December 2015) follows two MoUs signed in 2000 and 2005 for the free provision of MDT drugs for patients globally.