The World Health Organization (WHO) and Gilead Sciences have today signed a new agreement for the donation through WHO of 380 400 vials of AmBisome (liposomal amphotericin B for injection), extending their previous agreement to 2021.
The new five-year collaboration, estimated at US$ 20 million, includes funding that will allow populations affected by visceral leishmaniasis to benefit from enhanced access to diagnosis and treatment.
“This new collaboration comes at the right time as we gear up to support endemic countries in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis as a public health problem by 2020,” said Dr Ren Minghui, WHO Assistant Director-General for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases. “During the past five years, AmBisome, donated by Gilead Sciences, has allowed many countries in the Region where the disease is highly endemic to implement WHO’s recommended first-line treatment, benefiting thousands of people.”
While much of the donation will go to key endemic countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, South Sudan and Sudan, recipients will also include the Eastern Africa sub-region where AmBisome is used to treat severe, complicated cases.
Gilead Science’s financial contribution will enable WHO to expand and reinforce surveillance and control of leishmaniasis in many endemic countries and well beyond South-East Asia.
“We’re proud to continue our longstanding partnership with WHO as it continues its efforts to combat this illness worldwide,” said Gregg Alton, Gilead Sciences’ Executive Vice President of Commercial and Access Operations ALA, Corporate and Medical Affairs. “We want to ensure every patient around the world has access to medicines, and this renewed partnership is one step further towards that goal.”
Visceral leishmaniasis is endemic in more than 80 countries worldwide. Left untreated, it is fatal in more than 95% of cases within 2 years after the onset of the disease.
“AmBisome is one of the safest and most effective medicines currently available to treat visceral leishmaniasis” said Dr Daniel Argaw Dagne, Coordinator of the Innovative and Intensified Disease Management unit of the WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. “In South-East Asia a single injection is highly effective, has a high cure-rate and effectively reduces treatment duration and hospitalization.”
“The kala-azar elimination programmes in South-East Asia are making sustained progress towards elimination” said Dr José Antonio Ruiz Postigo, head of the leishmaniasis control and elimination programme in WHO headquarters. “Cases are declining in all three major endemic countries – Bangladesh, India and Nepal – and this extended agreement with Gilead Sciences will enable programmes to strengthen surveillance systems, a crucial step towards validating the elimination of the disease.”
Visceral leishmaniasis is characterized by irregular bouts of fever, weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and anaemia.
The disease is highly endemic in the Indian subcontinent and in East Africa.
An estimated 200 000–400 000 new cases occur worldwide each year; 90% of new cases are reported from six countries: Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.