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Sanofi-aventis Wins the 2010
Global Business Coalition Core Competence Award
for its Innovative Malaria Access to Medicines Program
Paris, France – May 25, 2010–
Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced today that it has been awarded the 2010 Global Business Coalition Core Compentence Award, for its innovative Malaria Access to Medicines partnership program with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). Each year, the Global Business Coalition honours global pioneers in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The prize will be awarded to sanofi-aventis in Washington, USA, on June 8th, 2010.
Sanofi-aventis won the Core Competence award for this partnership with DNDi to develop and distribute the anti-malarial treatment, Coarsucam™/ Artesunate Amodiaquine Winthrop© (“ASAQ”). ASAQ is the first anti-malarial treatment to be specifically targeted at some of the poorest patients living in sub-saharan Africa, and in particular children. Provided at low cost – less than 1 US $ for an adult treatment and less than 0.50 US $ for children – to non-profit institutions, ASAQ is designed to improve patient compliance and reduce the risk of malaria parasites developing resistance to the disease. ASAQ was pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008 and, since then, more than 50 million ASAQ treatments have been distributed in sub-saharan African countries.
“The ASAQ development partnership demonstrates sanofi-aventis’ commitment to protecting health and serving the needs of patients across the world. It is an example to everyone of the benefits we can achieve for patients by working in partnership and pooling our expertise, knowledge and resources in pursuit of a shared goal. I am proud to accept this award on behalf of sanofi-aventis and our partners at DNDi ”, said Dr Robert Sebbag, Vice President, Access to Medicines, sanofi-aventis.
Global Business Coalition CEO, John Todstrom, acknowledged the importance and success of the program: “Business is indispensable in the fight against diseases like malaria. The reach, infrastructure, and competencies of the private sector - honed amid the demands of global competitiveness - are powerful assets. The sanofi-aventis ASAQ programme has produced real results in helping to address one the three greatest threats of our time. We congratulate them on their richly deserved success.”
Commenting on the award, Dr Bernard Pecoul, DNDi Executive Director, said: “ASAQ provides a true innovation in patient treatment. We are proud of the role DNDi played in developing the new treatment but above all this project shows what can be achieved by working together. We are delighted that this innovative partnership with sanofi-aventis has received the recognition it deserves through this award.”
About ASAQ
Developed in just three years by the sanofi-aventis & DNDi partnership, and produced in Morocco, ASAQ is provided at low cost to governments and non-profit organizations. The fixed-dose drug combination is designed to improve patient treatment compliance, and meets the WHO’s demand for the production of high-quality, effective treatments for malaria patients that reduce the risk of parasites developing resistance. Taken once daily, for three days, the drug has been specifically designed to target children and adults living in some of the most difficult conditions in sub-saharan Africa by providing the simplest possible dosing regimen, colour codes and pictograms on blisters to minimise the risk of confusion between dosages, especially for illiterate patients. ASAQ is made available to governments and other field actors of malaria-endemic countries together with a comprehensive set of information materials and tools for the prevention and management of malaria. These tools are adapted to all the links of the healthcare chain, including scientific specialists, doctors, nurses, community health agents, and right up to families and school children. By mobilizing the expertise of sanofi-aventis and numerous partners, we help fight malaria on all fronts, according to our conviction that “drugs alone are not enough.”
About the partnership
The ASAQ program is the first example of an antimalarial treatment to be produced through a public private partnership. By agreeing to work together in December 2004, both sanofi-aventis and the DNDi were able to make ASAQ available to patients approximately a year earlier than if sanofi-aventis had worked alone. Both partners played a critical role in the development of ASAQ. In total, the DNDi provided a total of 8 million EUR to the project from various donors, essentially European public institutions, and Médecins Sans Frontières to the project while sanofi-aventis contributed between 6 and 10 million EUR annually between 2002 and 2009 to its malaria programs. Additionally, both sanofi-aventis and the DNDi worked in close collaboration with African scientists and with the support of the Medicines for Malaria Venture to set up a ‘field monitoring programme’. ASAQ was the first drug for which this type of programme, which monitored the safety and efficacy of ASAQ in real-life conditions in sub-saharan Africa, was established. The monitoring programme was run in close collaboration with the World Health Organisation and will help build expertise and capacity in Africa that will serve to ensure the safety of all drugs.
About sanofi-aventis Access to Medicines
The sanofi-aventis “Access to Medicines” department brings together the Group’s areas of expertise to address the challenge of access to healthcare in developing and emerging countries for specific diseases : malaria, tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, leishmaniases, mental illnesses, and epilepsy. In association with Sanofi Pasteur, initiatives are also developed for vaccine-preventable diseases.
About the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Global Business Coalition (GBC) is a movement of businesses that are joining forces with governments and civil society to end the ravages of disease faster. By working together across sectors and getting business actively engaged in turning corporate assets into disease-fighting assets in a coordinated way, the group can hasten the arrival of the day when HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria no longer wreak havoc on people, communities and nations.
About the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is a not-for-profit product development partnership working to research and develop new and improved treatments for neglected disease, in particular human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and malaria. With the objective to address unmet patient needs for these diseases, DNDi was established in 2003 by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation from Brazil, the Indian Council for Medical Research, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Ministry of Health of Malaysia, the Pasteur Institute, and Médecins sans Frontières (MSF). WHO/TDR acts as a permanent observer. Working in partnership with industry and academia, DNDi has the largest ever R&D portfolio for kinetoplastid diseases. Since 2007, DNDi has delivered three products, fixed-dose anti-malarials “ASAQ” and “ASMQ”, and a combination treatment for the advanced stage of sleeping sickness NECT (nifurtimox-eflornithine combination therapy).
About sanofi-aventis
Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to improve the lives of everyone. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY). For more information, please visit: www.sanofi-aventis.com
Media contacts:
Dr François Bompart
francois.bompart@sanofi-aventis.com
Tel: +33 1 41 24 53 45
Cressida Ward
cressida.ward@sanofi-aventis.com
Tel : +33 6 45 98 39 07
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