Gilead Sciences and the World Health Organization Announce Five-Year Visceral Leishmaniasis Collaboration
September 27 2016 - 4:05PM
Business Wire
– Gilead Donates $20 Million to Enhance
Access to Treatment for Often Fatal Neglected Tropical Disease
–
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:GILD) today announced it has
entered into a partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO)
to provide $20 million in funding and drug donations over five
years to expand access to diagnostic services and treatment for
visceral leishmaniasis (VL). As part of this collaboration, Gilead
will donate 380,000 vials of AmBisome® (amphotericin B liposome for
injection) to meet the needs of WHO to treat VL in key endemic
countries, including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, South
Sudan and Sudan.
VL, also known as kala-azar, is the world’s second-deadliest
parasitic infectious disease and affects up to 300,000 people
annually in resource-limited countries.
“This new collaboration comes at the right time as we gear up to
support endemic countries in the Eastern Africa sub-region and
South-East Asia to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis as a public
health problem by or before 2020,” said Dr. Ren Minghui, WHO
Assistant Director-General for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Neglected
Tropical Diseases. “During the past five years, AmBisome, donated
by Gilead, allowed many countries in the Region highly endemic for
VL to implement WHO’s recommended first line treatment, benefitting
thousands of people.”
Gilead’s support of WHO’s leishmaniasis control program began in
1992. In December 2011, Gilead expanded its partnership by donating
approximately 445,000 vials of AmBisome to treat more than 50,000
people over five years and to expand the number of VL treatment
centers from fewer than 15 in 2011 to more than 160 in 2015.
“We’re proud to continue our long-standing partnership with the
World Health Organization as it continues its efforts to combat
this illness worldwide,” said Gregg Alton, Executive Vice
President Commercial and Access Operations ALA, Corporate and
Medical Affairs. “We want to ensure every patient around the world
has access to medicines that can save them from life-threatening
diseases. This renewed partnership is one step further towards that
goal.”
Gilead’s funding will enable WHO to expand and reinforce
leishmaniasis surveillance and control efforts in highly endemic
areas, including creating a sustainable infrastructure to improve
diagnosis and treatment of VL. Gilead’s medicine donation will be
distributed by WHO as determined by a group of experts appointed by
WHO.
Gilead is one of 20 original endorsers of the ‘London
Declaration’ on Neglected Tropical Diseases -
a collaborative disease elimination and eradication
program launched in January 2012. The declaration was inspired
by the WHO’s 2020 roadmap to eradicate neglected tropical
diseases.
About Visceral
Leishmaniasis
Visceral leishmaniasis is transmitted by bites from infected
sandflies carrying the Leishmania parasite. The parasite attacks
the organs and can cause complications such as fever, weight loss,
enlargement of the spleen and liver, and increased vulnerability to
other life-threatening infections. VL is the most severe form of
the disease and is fatal if left untreated in over 95 percent of
cases. The disease is endemic in nearly 100 countries, many of them
among the poorest in the world. The spread of VL is associated with
overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, population displacement and
environmental changes.
About AmBisome
AmBisome (amphotericin B) liposome for injection is indicated in
the U.S. for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. In
immunocompromised patients with VL treated with AmBisome, relapse
rates were high following initial clearance of parasites. AmBisome
is contraindicated in those patients who have demonstrated or have
known hypersensitivity to amphotericin B deoxycholate or any other
constituents of the product unless, in the opinion of the treating
physician, the benefit of therapy outweighs the risk. Anaphylaxis
has been reported with amphotericin B deoxycholate and other
amphotericin B-containing drugs, including AmBisome. If a severe
anaphylactic reaction occurs, the infusion should be immediately
discontinued and the patient should not receive further infusions
of AmBisome. See the full Prescribing Information for additional
important safety information and recommended usage.
About Gilead
Gilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers,
develops and commercializes innovative therapeutics in areas of
unmet medical need. The company’s mission is to advance the care of
patients suffering from life-threatening diseases. Gilead has
operations in more than 30 countries worldwide, with headquarters
in Foster City, California.
U.S. full Prescribing Information for AmBisome
is available at www.gilead.com.
For more information on Gilead Sciences, please
visit the company’s website at www.gilead.com, follow Gilead on
Twitter (@GileadSciences) or call Gilead Public Affairs at
1-800-GILEAD-5 or 1-650-574-3000
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