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Bristol-Myers Squibb Company has announced a new agreement with Matrix Laboratories Ltd (MLL), a Mylan company to expand access to Reyataz (atazanavir sulphate), an anti-retro viral (ARV).
The immunity-from-suit agreement enables the generic company to manufacture and sell atazanavir, as well as stavudine and didanosine, in sub-Saharan Africa and India.
In a press release Mr Frank Pasqualone, President, Intercontinental Region, Bristol-Myers Squibb, said, “The HIV treatment landscape has changed dramatically since 2001, when we first began our Global Access Programme to help expand the availability of low-cost HIV medicines in the developing world.”
Atazanavir
Atazanavir is an important component of HIV combination therapy and this agreement facilitates broader availability of the medicine to help patients access appropriate treatment regimens, he said.
The immunity-from-suit agreement with Matrix Laboratories, based in Hyderabad, is the fifteenth agreement that Bristol-Myers Squibb has signed for its HIV medicines, and the fourth for atazanavir. A key component of the agreement is the inclusion of pediatric formulations of the medicines to support the treatment needs of children with HIV.
Under the terms of the agreement, Matrix Laboratories will secure World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalification for all products covered by the agreement, including pediatric formulations of didanosine and, in the future, atazanavir powder formulation for pediatric use when Bristol-Myers Squibb's product is available.
Funding
The WHO prequalification enables procurement organisations to purchase medicines using funding from United Nations agencies and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The objective of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Global Access Programme is to enable broad access to the company's HIV medicines in impoverished regions most severely impacted by HIV.
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