Sanofi-Aventis, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative Launch New Low-Cost, Fixed-Dose Malaria Drug

Pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative on Thursday announced the availability of a new, affordable, fixed-dose combination drug to treat malaria, the New York Times reports. The drug, called ASAQ, is composed of artemisinin and amodiaquine and is the first product resulting from the partnership between Sanofi and DNDi (McNeil, New York Times, 3/1). A full course of ASAQ will be available for less than $1 for adults and 50 cents for children. To treat malaria, adults can take two ASAQ pills daily for three days, and children can take three smaller pills once daily (Sanofi-Aventis release, 3/1). The drug -- which was the result of a two-year, $21 million project -- also comes in two other formulations for children, including one for children older than age 13 (Cheng, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 3/1). The drug has been shown to work against drug-resistant malaria strains and is recommended by the World Health Organization. It will help to improve treatment compliance and reduce the risk of developing drug-resistant strains, Bernard Pecoul, DNDi executive director, said (Agence France-Presse, 3/1). The drug has been registered in 11 countries in Africa, and 10 million treatment courses are expected to be sold this year, according to Pecoul. The drug next month will be available in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, the Republic of the Congo and Togo and subsequently will be available in other countries. A modified version of the drug also is being developed for Latin America, Southeast Asia and India, where there are different types of malaria, Reuters reports (Hirschler, Reuters, 3/1). Sanofi plans to sell the pill at cost to international health agencies, such as the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, UNICEF and WHO. According to U.S. Malaria Coordinator Timothy Ziemer, the President's Malaria Initiative might buy ASAQ if it meets international standards for drug safety and if PMI countries request it (New York Times, 3/1). Sanofi has said it will not seek patents for the one-pill formulation, allowing drug companies to make generic versions of it (BBC News, 3/1).

Sanofi To Produce Branded Version
Sanofi also intends to produce a branded version of the drug, called Coarsucam, for private market that will be three to four times more expensive than the public price. That drug will be available only in African countries, Indonesia and the Philippines and not in Europe or the U.S., according to the drug company. Sanofi will offer pharmacists' organizations incentives to sell a full course of Coarsucam for either $1 to poorer customers or $3 to $4 to customers who can afford the higher price. Sanofi will allow pharmacists to decide which of their customers cannot afford to pay the higher price, Robert Sebbag, Sanofi's vice president for access to medicines, said, adding that the cutoff income is about $40 monthly. The company also plans to package Coarsucam differently and ensure that sales representatives can prevent pharmacies from selling the lower-cost drug at the higher price. Sebbag said Sanofi chose to sell the drug at a low cost to discourage people from counterfeiting the drug. ASAQ and Coarsucam will not replace Novartis' artemisinin-based combination therapy Coartem, although ASAQ is easier to take and is almost half the price, Pecoul said (New York Times, 3/1).