Cepheid Pricing Of GeneXpert
Statement / Press • 2011On November 12, 2010, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and partners jointly sent an open letter to Cepheid calling for affordable and expanded access to the GeneXpert® MTB/RIF TB diagnostic test. Following this correspondence, TAC and partners had a teleconference with FIND and Cepheid, during which Cepheid indicated that prices for the GeneXpert would be reduced. During December, FIND announced that it had negotiated a volume-based price reduction agreement with Cepheid, lowering the cost of the GeneXpert.
Letter Opposing a Proposed Low-dose Stavudine Trial
Letters • 2011TAG and other partner organizations issued this letter about their serious and unresolved concerns about the proposed clinical trial comparing stavudine at 20 mg to tenofovir.
Moving An Exciting New TB Diagnostic from Policy to Practice
TAGline • 2011by Javid Syed On December 8, 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed the use of the new Xpert® MTB/RIF test as the initial test offered to people suspected of having HIV-associated TB or multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB. The test, developed by Cepheid Inc., Foundation for Innovative and New Diagnostics (FIND), and University of Dentistry and…
Julie Davids Reflects on CHAMP and the Future of HIV Prevention Justice
TAGline • 2011Interview with Veteran HIV Prevention and Social Justice Activist Julie Davids In December 2010, TAGlinecaught up with the super energetic and visionary HIV activist Julie Davids, veteran of ACT UP/Philadelphia, HealthGAP, and a slew of more recent U.S. HIV prevention and social justice organizations such as CHAMP, Project UNSHACKLE, and the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance.…
Treatment Action Group Issues Latest Update on Global TB R&D Investment Trends
Statement / Press • 2011New data released by the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the Stop TB Partnership finds that in 2010 the world spent just $617 million in tuberculosis (TB) research and development (R&D), or 0.3% less than 2009 funding levels—the first time TAG documents no growth since it began tracking TB research investments in 2005.
Treatment Action Group Mourns the Loss of Pioneering AIDS and TB Activist Winstone Zulu (1964-2011)
Statement / Press • 2011October 12, 2011 – “Winstone Zulu, the first individual in Zambia to publicly acknowledge his HIV status died this morning 12th October 2011 at University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka. Winstone Zulu was born in 1964 in Lusaka, Zambia, the sixth of thirteen children. After being diagnosed with HIV in 1990, he became the first individual…
HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Network to Take On New Research Priorities Under Severe Funding Constraints
TAGline • 2011By Coco Jervis Big changes are planned for the $300 million AIDS clinical trials networks funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Founded in 1987 at the height of the AIDS crisis, the networks are credited with numerous groundbreaking clinical advances in HIV and opportunistic infection prophylaxis and treatment that has prevented countless…
The First New Tuberculosis Drug in Decades: Promise and Challenges
TAGline • 2011By Claire Wingfield After nearly 50 years, there is finally something to get excited about in tuberculosis (TB) drug development. Tibotec’s TMC207—the first compound from a novel class of TB drugs, the diarylquinolines—will likely be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for accelerated or conditional approval sometime in…
TAG Recommendations on Clinical Trials Network Restructuring
Statement / Press • 2011Treatment Action Group outlines issues of concern and questions about network restructuring research priorities and network structure. Jan 4, 2011 – Treatment Action Group (www.treatmentactiongroup.org) is an independent AIDS research and policy think tank fighting for better treatment, a vaccine, and a cure for AIDS. TAG works to ensure that all people with HIV receive…
Can More People Be Put on ART Without Increased Cost?
TAGline • 2010By Scott Morgan With no end to the global funding retreat in sight, new strategies are required to change the way we provide treatment to the world’s 33 million people infected with HIV. On June 7-10, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) hosted a conference, Opportunities to reduce the cost of anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, to…