UN-created health care fund welcomes US initiative on AIDS drugs

A Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases initiated by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed a move by the United States to speed up review and approval of fixed-dose and co-packaged drugs to as little as a few weeks.

US Secretary for Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced the fast-track review by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday.

"Recipients of Global Fund grants already have the opportunity to buy generic fixed-dose combinations, but clearly FDA approval of these drugs would lead many more countries to choose them," said Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

"The fact that the (US) President's Emergency Plan also will allow the use of these drugs makes it much easier to harmonize drug protocols in countries where both the Global Fund and the President's Emergency Plan finance drug purchases. It is important that patients can expect the same drugs no matter who they go to," he added.

Three pharmaceutical companies - Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Gilead Sciences and Merck & Co. - also said yesterday that they were developing plans for a fixed-dose combination of three HIV medicines and for co-packaging separate HIV drugs to make use easier.

"I am delighted that the research muscle of big pharma is now being applied to expand the number of fixed-dose combinations and securing their effectiveness. This is reassuring and will bring benefits to people in all countries," Mr. Feachem said.

The Global Fund, a unique partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities, is dedicated to attracting and disbursing supplementary resources to prevent and treat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Fund has disbursed $2.1 billion for programmes in 122 countries.