The Tuberculosis Diagnostics Pipeline
Pipeline • 2014July 2014 By Colleen Daniels Accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is the gateway to treatment and—it is hoped—cure for people with latent TB infection (LTBI) or active TB disease. According to the Stop TB Partnership and the World Health Organization (WHO), 3 million of the 9 million people who develop TB disease every year are…
2013/2014 HCV Drug Pipeline Update
Pipeline • 2014July 2014 By Tracy Swan Thanks to Jules Levin This update includes presentations from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Meeting, the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) International Liver Congress, Digestive Disease Week (DDW), and publications from peer-reviewed scientific…
Fit for Purpose: Treatment Optimization
Pipeline • 2014July 2014 By Polly Clayden Since the 2013 Pipeline Report treatment optimization has continued to gain traction. Results from one of the key dose optimization trials ENCORE1—showing a lower dose of efavirenz (EFV) is non-inferior to the currently approved one— were published,1 and dolutegravir (DTG)—one of the most promising pipeline drugs for this purpose—was approved…
Preventive Technologies: Antiretroviral and Vaccine Development
Pipeline • 2014July 2014 By Tim Horn and Richard Jefferys The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of co-formulated tenofovir DF and emtricitabine (Truvada) as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has transformed the HIV prevention landscape, though perhaps more in theory than reality. Uptake of PrEP has been slow, including among men who have sex with men (MSM),…
Introduction and Executive Summary
Pipeline • 2014July 2014 By Polly Clayden and Mark Harrington INTRODUCTION Last year we wrote: [Getting] the best drugs to the most people as quickly as possible… requires that the compounds and combination products be: Discovered and developed in a high-quality research program; Approved by a national or multinational regulatory authority; Recommended by national or multinational guidelines…
The Road to Treatment Access
TAGline • 2014Generic drug registration, licensing, and a trip to Gilead’s islands Karyn Kaplan and Tracy Swan Access to essential medicines is part of the human right to health. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has demonstrated that generic competition is key to massive antiretroviral treatment (ART) scale-up in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). But several steps are needed to…
New Hepatitis Resolution Is Passed at World Health Assembly; Challenges World Health Organization and Member States to Act
Statement / Press • 2014Today, four years after introducing its first viral hepatitis resolution, the World Health Assembly (WHA)—the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO)—passed the Hepatitis Resolution, which commits the WHO and United Nations (UN) member states to urgent action to address the global hepatitis pandemic, including that of hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Punked by Pharma: Public Funds for Private Products
TAGline • 2014Tax dollars are making it easier for the drug and diagnostics industry to develop and market essential TB products. Is the public getting a fair return on its investment? By Lindsay McKenna Motivating the pharmaceutical industry to step up and respond to the burgeoning tuberculosis (TB) epidemic is one thing. Publicly funding its research and…
Marketplace Menaces: Discriminatory Practices by the ACA’s Qualified Health Plans
TAGline • 2014Advocates scramble to stay ahead of coverage rejections, formulary concerns, and exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses facing people living with HIV By Kenyon Farrow #GetCovered That’s the White House’s official hashtag and marketing campaign to spike the number of Americans enrolling into qualified health plans (QHP) through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The deadline for individual enrollment…
Falling Funding for Tuberculosis Research Threatens to Derail TB Elimination Efforts in the United States
Statement / Press • 2014The goal of eliminating tuberculosis (TB) as a public health threat in the United States is under threat, a new policy brief released today by Treatment Action Group (TAG) shows. Analysis conducted by TAG reveals that spending on TB research and development (R&D) among U.S. government agencies declined from 2009 to 2012 in the face of budget instability, sequestration, and the rising costs of biomedical research.