Cipla, Aurobindo in Medicines Patent Pool agreement on anti-AIDs drugs

With just three days to go for the 20th International AIDS conference in Melbourne, the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) has announced an agreement with seven drugmakers for the manufacture of two anti-AIDS medicines.

And India-based companies Cipla, Emcure, Aurobindo, Micro Labs and multinational Mylan’s India subsidiary are part of these sub-licensing agreements to make generic versions of the HIV medicines - atazanavir (ATV) and dolutegravir (DTG).

The advantage in getting more generic producers to make these medicines is that it brings down the price on patent-protected drugs. The MPP’s role is that it negotiates licences with patent holders to pool their patents and facilitate the access to these drugs to developing countries, at lower prices.

In the past, the MPP has signed agreements with Bristol Myers-Squibb, Gilead Sciences, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, the US National Institutes of Health and ViiV Healthcare for eight antiretrovirals (ARVs) and one medicine for an HIV opportunistic infection.

“With licences signed today, four new manufacturers are joining us to speed the availability of crucial medicines, ATV and DTG, to developing countries. This almost doubles our network of generic partners to 10 companies,” said Greg Perry, MPP Executive Director. “Increased generic competition will ultimately bring prices down and increase availability to allow national treatment programmes to treat many more people in their countries,” he added.

Sun licences

In December, the MPP had signed an agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb for a licence on atazanavir, a World Health Organsiation-preferred second-line therapy. Subsequently, it signed its first sub-licence with a Chinese generic firm, Desano, a Shanghai-based supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The MPP also forged an alliance with Hyderabad-based Aurobindo and Pune-based Emcure, manufacturers of generic antiretroviral medicines, for the production of low-cost atazanavir.

Increasing access of second-line treatments for HIV is crucial as more people living with HIV develop resistance to first-line regimens. The WHO estimates there will be more than one million people on second-line treatment by 2016 and many more will need access to these new medicines.

Three months after MPP signed agreements with ViiV Healthcare on new antiretroviral dolutegravir, the organisation signed four sub-licences for the manufacture of generic versions of the product for both adult and paediatric care. Laurus Labs, that had an existing MPP licence to produce five Gilead anti-AIDs medicines in 2012, has been granted a new licence for DTG. Micro Labs, Cipla and Mylan have become new MPP sublicensing partners, the MPP said.

Jaideep Gogtay, Cipla’s Chief Medical Officer, said, “Dolutegravir belongs to the new class of drugs - integrase inhibitors. This class of drugs brings new options for patients, has advantages over the existing drugs in terms of high efficacy and also brings down the viral loads rapidly. Access to the medicine in developing countries will make a major difference to the lives of HIV/AIDS patients living there.” Multinational Mylan subsidiary is an established leader in anti-AIDS drugs and is part of the agreement on this drug.

Also part of the agreement, Micro Labs Executive Director NK Kothari said, “The new sub-licensing agreements for generic DTG are a welcome development in ensuring that we reach developing countries with a promising new ARV in record time.” The company hopes to have a generic product available as soon as possible to strengthen HIV treatment options in hundreds of countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, he added.

>jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in

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