Glaxo SmithKline today announced a package of new measures which aim to improve antiretroviral treatment for children and adults in sub-Saharan Africa.
The company is pledging £10 million seed funding to a public-private partnership to develop new paediatric formulations of antiretroviral drugs. Many paediatric formulations are unsuitable for use in developing countries, either because they are liquids that require refrigeration or because they are not available in fixed-dose tablet formulations that can be easily dispensed.
£5 million a year for ten years will be made available through a Positive Action for Children fund to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to support orphans and vulnerable children.
GSK is also carrying out a comprehensive review of its HIV portfolio to establish the technical feasibility and medical benefit of combining its drugs with other available antiretrovirals to develop new fixed-dose combination treatments.
The company also announced that Aspen Pharmacare of South Africa has been granted a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to manufacture abacavir. The World Health Organization recommends that abacavir should be used in second-line treatment, but it remains one of the more expensive second-line treatments due to lack of demand and lack of competition between manufacturers.