[ad_1]
LONDON (Reuters) – International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Monday accused HIV drug maker ViiV Healthcare of delaying access for children with AIDS virus to a critical medicine called dolutegravir.
While the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends, it is recommended that patients be treated more often than not. statement.
The group, known as Doctors Without Borders in English, also said ViiV was making pediatric formulations more expensive than adult versions, and was slow to develop dispersible versions for babies.
ViiV is a joint venture between the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., Britain's GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Japan's Shionogi & Co Ltd.
"These barriers force HIV-positive children to rely on pediatric treatments with suboptimal drugs with more side effects," MSF said. "ViiV is dragging its feet when it comes to getting better treatment with HIV."
The medical charity also said ViiV's pricing structure for dolutegravir was "problematic," with an adult 50 milligram (mg) dose costing around $ 223 per year, compared with child formula costs $ 214 for 25mg and $ 115 for 10mg.
Dolutegravir belongs to a clbad of drugs known as integrase inhibitors and is used in ViiV's branded combination HIV drugs Tivicay and Triumeq. Gilead Sciences Inc makes a rival product called bictegravir.
ViiV responded in a statement that it was "focusing efforts on accelerating the development and availability" of dolutegravir and its other HIV drugs to all age-groups.
The drugmaker said prices for dolutegravir formulations are not fixed, but based on the "cost of manufacture plus distribution" for poorer countries.
MSF said ViiV had failed to deliver pediatric dolutegravir formulations where they are most needed, including sub-Saharan Africa where the majority of HIV positive patients live.
"HIV needs to be recognized as a factor in the treatment of newborn infants and children," said Jessica Burry. HIV pharmacist with MSF.
Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Richard Chang
Source link
