Novartis and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria struck a deal that will ensure sufficient supply of a vital anti-malarial drug for 100 million infected Africans. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant promised to produce Coartem at cost using $170 million worth of grants to Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Senegal and Angola. Global Fund Executive Director Richard Feachem said the agency decided to pool the aid packages in order to "obtain the drug more quickly, economically and predictably, while assuring suppliers of a sizable market." Coartem contains artemisinin, an ingredient found to be potent against resistant strains of the parasites that cause the disease. Novartis is so far the only company that has won the approval of the World Health Organization to manufacture the drug.
Source: Novartis to Supply Malaria Drug in Grants to 7 Countries in Africa (The Wall Street Journal)
