LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker AbbVie hasadded two HIV medicines for children to a shared patent pool inan initiative that should speed the development of cheap newpaediatric formulations for use in poor countries.
It is the latest win for the non-profit Medicines PatentPool (MPP), which aims to persuade leading drug companies toshare rights to their products with generic manufacturers inIndia and elsewhere.
Until now, AbbVie has not participated in the scheme,although the MPP has signed HIV drug agreements withBristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Roche and ViiV Healthcare, which is majority-owned byGlaxoSmithKline.
Despite major advances in treating HIV/AIDS, only a quarterof the 3.2 million children with the virus - 90 percent of whomlive in sub-Saharan Africa - currently receive drugs.
One major obstacle is the fact that existing syrup-basedformulations need refrigeration, making them unsuitable for muchof Africa, and their unpleasant taste is an added problem.
The licensing agreement for AbbVie's lopinavir and ritonavirdrugs, both of which are specifically recommended for children,gives a green light to other players to develop improvedtreatment options.
The licence also allows for the development of fixed-dosecombinations using different drugs already covered by MPP dealswith other companies.
The MPP-AbbVie agreement covers 102 countries and also permits distribution in areas where AbbVie does not holdpatents, such as in India where the company has withdrawn itspatent applications for lopinavir and ritonavir. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by David Evans)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)