The Hummingbird. Unitaid News – October 2020
Unitaid celebrates progress against hepatitis C through simpler medicines and tests
Geneva – On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, Unitaid celebrates the progress made in the fight against Hepatitis C in the past few years. Notably, thanks to quality medicines and tests that are simpler to administer, affordable and adapted to the needs of people in low- and middle-income countries.
Close to 400,000 people continue dying of Hepatitis C globally each year. Antiviral medicines can cure more than 95 percent of people with the infection, but access to diagnosis and treatment has typically been low. Less than a decade ago, Hepatitis C was difficult and expensive to treat even in high-income countries, and new medicines where out of reach for people in lower-income countries.
Since 2015, Unitaid-supported investments have successfully developed simpler and more affordable ways to diagnose and treat Hepatitis C in order to advance the 2030 elimination targets. Now, a full treatment course can cost less than US$ 100, down from an initial price of more than US$ 50,000.
“Our efforts have found innovative ways to deliver Hepatitis C medicines and tests in simpler, more affordable ways, demonstrating it is feasible to deploy them on a large scale in lower-income countries. We are proud to be powering this transformation, improving access to the best tools and accelerating progress towards a hepatitis-free world”, said Unitaid Executive Director a.i., Philippe Duneton. “We also hope our work will lead countries to invest in the fight against this global health challenge.”
As part of its work on Hepatitis C, Unitaid has partnered with a wide range of stakeholders, notably Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), FIND, Coalition Plus, WHO’s Prequalification Programme and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).
Today, an estimated 71 million people suffer from chronic infection with the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) worldwide, but only 20 percent have been diagnosed and only 4 percent are treated. In the next decade, Hepatitis C can be beaten by widely deploying the better medicines, tests and processes now available.
The Hummingbird. Unitaid News – January 2020
Unitaid invests in long-acting medicines to simplify treatment and prevention for HIV, TB, malaria and HCV
Geneva – Unitaid will invest US$ 39 million in two projects to speed up the development of long-acting versions of medicines for low- and middle-income countries. Innovative ways to administer drugs, which have revolutionized contraception and the treatment of schizophrenia, could redefine prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, but remain at early stages of research because of market barriers.
Unitaid today signed a US$ 32 million grant with the University of Liverpool and a US$ 6.9 million grant with the University of Washington to help develop and commercialize long-acting medicines for HIV, TB, malaria and hepatitis C (HCV). Unitaid has invested heavily in creating better, more affordable medicines and making them accessible; the new investments build on that work by making more efficient ways for patients to take them.
“We see an enormous potential in this technology for changing people’s lives,” Unitaid Deputy Executive Director Philippe Duneton said.
University of Washington’s four-year GLAD project will transform combination HIV pill regimens that contain the drug dolutegravir into an injectable that lasts from one to three months. The goal is to develop an effective, long-acting alternative to the daily pill that is now the standard of care.
“We are excited that the GLAD project is in a position to contribute to making the best available HIV combination medicine long-lasting, and to work toward worldwide access,” said Professor Rodney Ho, director of the Targeted, Long-acting and Combination Antiretroviral Program at the University of Washington. “Through the partnership and support of Unitaid, our innovations in targeted drug-combination technology could be leveraged to make a global impact on long-lasting HIV treatment and prevention.”
University of Liverpool’s five-year LONGEVITY project will develop long-acting formulations of drugs for malaria and TB prevention, and a cure for HCV. As part of the project, partners will create a Centre of Excellence in Long-Acting Therapeutics with a laboratory dedicated to product development. Johns Hopkins University, Clinton Health Access Initiative, University of Nebraska, Treatment Action Group and Tandem Nano Ltd. will participate in the project.
“My feeling is that we are witnessing a change in the paradigm for treatment of chronic diseases, but also semi-chronic disease,” said Andrew Owen, professor of pharmacology at the University of Liverpool, where the LONGEVITY project will take place. Owen gave the example of how a long-acting formulation could work for malaria prevention: “The hope is that the medicines will enable entire villages across high-burden countries to be effectively protected from acquiring malaria for the entire duration of the rainy season. We also hope huge benefits will be available for TB prevention and HCV therapy, focusing on high-risk groups across low- and middle-income countries.”
Safe and effective daily oral medicines are available to prevent and treat major diseases, but when they are not taken consistently, treatments fail and illness spreads. Poor adherence can also allow drug-resistant microbes to develop. Long-acting technologies offer a simpler way of administering medicines that frees patients from daily pills, makes it easier for them to start and stay on treatment, and reduces the burden on health systems. In places where certain diseases are stigmatized, long-acting medicines can provide people with a more discreet treatment.
The long-acting medicines projects complement other Unitaid work to expand access to much-needed drugs and diagnostics. The Unitaid-funded Medicines Patent Pool will work to ensure that formulations developed by GLAD and LONGEVITY will be accessible where they are needed.
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- Carol MASCIOLA, masciolac@unitaid.who.int
Unitaid thanks President Macron for support and leadership at the Global Fund’s successful replenishment conference
Lyon – Unitaid wholeheartedly thanks President Emmanuel Macron for France’s renewed three-year contribution, support that enables Unitaid to continue its push to bring about the innovations needed to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals for global health.
“We maintain our full commitment to Unitaid,” President Macron said, speaking in Lyon today at the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference. “I want to announce here the renewal of our support for the next three years.”
France is one of the founders of Unitaid, and its leading donor.
Unitaid also congratulates France for its leadership in the Global Fund’s successful replenishment, which met its goal Thursday afternoon by raising $US 14 billion for the next three years to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics.
Unitaid works closely with the Global Fund to develop global health innovations that can be introduced on a large scale.
“France’s steadfast support of Unitaid can be directly credited with millions of lives saved and improved through better access to high-quality medicines, the latest tests and methods,” Unitaid Executive Director Lelio Marmora said. “President Macron is showing unprecedented, extraordinary leadership in pushing us to do more.”
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For more information:
- Carol MASCIOLA, masciolac@unitaid.who.int
The Hummingbird. Unitaid News – September 2019
The Hummingbird. Unitaid News – August 2019
Annual report: Unitaid pushes the boundaries of global health innovation
Geneva – Unitaid is pleased to present its latest annual report, which shows the organization deepening and diversifying its work as a conduit, testing ground and refiner of the best global health ideas.
Unitaid’s portfolio reached US$ 1.3 billion in 2019, more than doubling its value in five years. The number of grants rose from 28 in 2014 to a record 48 grants.
“Every hard-earned milestone shows we can transform lives, in record time, by pooling the expertise of the right partners,” Executive Director Lelio Marmora said. “As we enter exciting new areas, we will continue convening governments, industry, international organizations and civil society to support a more strategic, coherent response.”
The number of organizations implementing Unitaid grants continued to climb, with more partners than ever based in the low- and middle-income countries Unitaid serves.
The organization is also cultivating novel kinds of partnerships that infuse its work with fresh ideas and resources. Unitaid’s new relationship with MTV Staying Alive Foundation, for example, is raising awareness of HIV self-testing, prevention and treatment through the popular African television series MTV Shuga.
Recent work has built on Unitaid’s accomplishments in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS and its co-infections—and tuberculosis and malaria.
New projects focus on averting cervical cancer, a major cause of death for women living with HIV, and fighting malaria with new ways to control mosquitoes.
The past year also witnessed Unitaid’s push into new approaches to bring down the unacceptable, long-static death toll—about 1 million people a year—from diseases that often strike those with advanced HIV disease.
Many Unitaid projects support the fight against superbugs—microbes that are resistant to medicines—as well as malaria-carrying mosquitoes that can no longer be killed by common insecticides.
Covering 2018 to the present, this year’s report uses a colorful, interactive new style to help readers cut quickly to the core of Unitaid’s work.
- Visit here our interactive annual report
- Annual report [PDF, 1.6 MB]