Novartis enters 5-year partnership on malaria elimination, votes USD100m

NaijaAgroNet:

A five-year commitment to the fight against malaria has been entered by Novartis in conjunction with the 7th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Conference and the Malaria Summit of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The company, NaijaAgroNet gathered, also released new African research on progress and remaining challenges toward the 2030 malaria elimination targets, together with Elimination 8 and the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust program.

Over the next five years, as part of its commitment, Novartis will invest more than USD 100 million to advance research and development of next-generation treatments to combat emerging resistance to artemisinin and other currently used antimalarials. The company will also implement an equitable pricing strategy to maximize patient access in malaria-endemic countries when these new treatments become available. In order to contribute to the WHO’s target of reducing malaria-related child mortality by at least 90% by 2030, Novartis will further help expand access to pediatric antimalarials and implement healthcare system strengthening programs in 4 sub-Saharan countries.

“Resistance to treatment presents the biggest threat to the incredible progress that has been made in the fight against malaria in the past 20 years. We cannot afford to wait; this is why we are committing to advance the research and development of next-generation treatments,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. “At the same time, we need to work to ensure that our innovation reaches those most in need, even those in the most remote locations.”

The R&D investment is meant to advance the Novartis malaria pipeline through 2023 and to complete a comprehensive global clinical trial program for our novel antimalarial drug candidates KAF156 and KAE609 (currently in Phase IIb and Phase IIa respectively ^[1]). Both are from new classes of medicines that were selected for their ability to treat malaria in different ways from current therapies. The investment also includes new uses of technology to identify areas where the malaria burden is greatest. This information could then be used to support capability- and capacity-building to establish future clinical trial sites, so the medicines can be evaluated in the populations where they are most needed.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Novartis is focusing on new technologies beyond therapeutic solutions - CEO

NaijaAgroNet:

The Chief Executive Officer of Novartis, Mr. Joseph Jimenez, has declared that they are focusing on new technologies beyond therapeutic solutions, reports NaijaAgroNet.

“Novartis is taking an outcomes approach, looking beyond therapeutic solutions to a focus on new technologies, new commercial models, education and training,” says Jimenez.

He made this declaration at the opening session of Novartis senior executives assemblage in Basel, Switzerland for the first-ever tagged Novartis Africa Day 2013, to review the company’s innovative work in Africa, including growing commercial activity, novel approaches to expand access to high-quality, affordable medicines, local talent development and the company’s Malaria Initiative.

“As the continent increasingly grapples with the dual healthcare burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, we believe we can make a significant difference in improving lives as the demand for healthcare rises,” he said.

Africa, he told NaijaAgroNet at the opening session, faces immense challenges in its efforts to provide adequate healthcare to its people. Stressing that the continent is home to one-seventh of the world’s population, shoulders one-quarter of the global disease burden, but it has only two per cent of the world’s doctors and less than one per cent of global health expenditure.

“Life expectancy is 15 years less than the global average. Africa is also at a turning point as it begins to be challenged by a dual disease burden; both communicable diseases that have historically plagued the continent, such as malaria, and non-communicable diseases that are on the rise due to lifestyle changes, such as diabetes,” he said.

Jimenez also decried low levels of disease awareness, declining infrastructure and poor distribution channels, which further compound Africa’s problems.  

Novartis, he said, employs a range of activities on the African continent with the aim of becoming the leading healthcare company in Africa.

Programmes to be discussed at the event include Sandoz Health Shops in Zambia, the Novartis Malaria Initiative and SMS for Life.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Sandoz Health Shops have the potential to reach more than 2.5 million patients over the next four years. While Novartis Malaria Initiative, reportedly provided more than 600 million antimalarial treatments, without profit, to more than 60 malaria-endemic countries.

Additionally, SMS for Life has reduced wait times and stock-outs for antimalarial medicines from three months to a few days and from 79 per cent to less than 26 per cent in three districts in Tanzania.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE/APO

... Linking agrobiz, people & technology