from the can't-adults-have-nice-flavours-too? dept.
Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
New Strawberry-Flavored H.I.V. Drugs for Babies Are Offered at $1 a Day
About 80,000 babies and toddlers die of AIDS each year, mostly in Africa, in part because their medicines come in hard pills or bitter syrups that are very difficult for small children to swallow or keep down.
But on Friday, the Indian generic drug manufacturer Cipla announced a new, more palatable pediatric formulation. The new drug, called Quadrimune, comes in strawberry-flavored granules the size of grains of sugar that can be mixed with milk or sprinkled on baby cereal. Experts said it could save the lives of thousands of children each year.
"This is excellent news for all children living with H.I.V.," said Winnie Byanyima, the new executive director of UNAIDS, the United Nations agency in charge of the fight against the disease. "We have been eagerly waiting for child-friendly medicines that are easy to use and good to taste."
Cipla revolutionized the provision of AIDS drugs for adults almost two decades ago, pricing them at $1 a day. The new pediatric formulation will likewise be priced at $1 a day. The announcement by Cipla and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, an offshoot of Doctors Without Borders that supported the development of the drug, was timed to coincide with World AIDS Day, which [
iswas] Sunday.
Despite big advances in the prevention of mother-child transmission of H.I.V., about 160,000 children are still born infected each year, according to UNAIDS, mostly in the poorest towns and villages of Africa. Almost half of them die before the age of 2, usually because they have no access to drugs or cannot tolerate them.
Quadrimune is still under review by the Food and Drug Administration, and F.D.A. approval almost inevitably leads to rapid certification by the World Health Organization. The company hopes to get a decision by May.
Trials in healthy adults showed that the new formulation gets the drugs into the blood; the four drugs in it were approved in the 1990s and are used in many combinations.
A clinical trial in H.I.V.-infected infants, run by Epicentre, the research arm of Doctors Without Borders, is now underway in Uganda to prove to African health ministries that children accept the new formulation. Most of the research costs have been paid by UNITAID, a Geneva-based organization set up by France, Norway, Brazil and some other countries which imposed special taxes on airline flights that are dedicated to bettering global health.
[...] The $1 a day price is for Quadrimune doses appropriate for children of between 20 and 30 pounds, he noted, so the cost for newborns would be even lower.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @06:17PM (1 child)
They should make a version of Fruit Loops, Fruity Pebbles, or Lucky Charms with this. It could be the next big thing in America.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday December 02 2019, @06:59PM
America's next big thing will be teenagers vaping a special blend infused with cialis and viagra.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday December 02 2019, @07:02PM (7 children)
How is it that HIV drugs, at least when I read about them some years back, were outrageously expensive in the US? People couldn't afford them, etc.
And drugs in general in the US, especially new ones, are overpriced. And some old drugs suddenly get gigantic price hikes.
However I was surprised a few days ago to discover that 30 hydrocodone (with insurance) went from $5 to $0.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 02 2019, @07:24PM (2 children)
ALL drugs in the US are overpriced. OTC and generic far less overpriced than prescription, but still overpriced. Drug company's monopolies are religiously protected by both parties. That's part of what makes all the hullabaloo over health care costs so stupid. The same congress critter who whines about health care costs turns around and votes for "intellectual property" rights every time the drug companies prod him. And, yes, that applies to all those socialist SOB's running for office next year.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 03 2019, @01:44AM (1 child)
How much is a ventolin inhaler?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday December 03 2019, @03:35PM
https://www.drugs.com/price-guide/ventolin-hfa [drugs.com]
What size do you need? 8.5 gram generic albuterol, $28.75
8 gram Ventolin HFA with a Drugs.com discount card, $32.53
Proventil brand, 6.7 grams, $92.75
I presume those are pocket size inhalers, single dose? Click through the pages to find exactly what you need/want. Per unit prices range from $1.73 to $13.84, on that site, and maybe more if I look at other brand names.
https://www.wellrx.com/prescriptions/ventolin%20hfa [wellrx.com]
Ventolin HFA 90 mcg $59.18 at Walmart, $60.04 at HEB (grocery chain in Texas) $60.70 at Kroger (Most Americans over 40 years of age should recognize that former coast-to-coast grocery chain) I don't see generic listed on this page.
I don't use drugs, very rarely get any kind of prescription - maybe I'm not reading those pages exactly right.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Pslytely Psycho on Monday December 02 2019, @07:35PM (1 child)
Because we fine pharmaceutical companies millions (pocket change) on the billions they make overcharging, false advertising, ripping off insurance companies, outright fraud etc. We slap their wrists and say "bad company,
don't do thatget caught again.The CEO only serves time if he's a big enough public asshole to put a face on the corporation and are guilty of something like Martin Shkreli, the "pharma bro" who committed securities fraud.
The Sacklers had to pay 3 billion in fines on 12 billion in profits and Purdue Pharmaceuticals, well, they have a storied history in court:
In May 2007, the company pleaded guilty to misleading the public about Oxycontin's risk of addiction and agreed to pay $600 million (equivalent to approximately $725M in 2018) in one of the largest pharmaceutical settlements in U.S. history. The company's president (Michael Friedman), top lawyer (Howard R. Udell) and former chief medical officer (Paul D. Goldenheim) pleaded guilty as individuals to misbranding charges, a criminal violation and agreed to pay a total of US$34.5 million in fines. Friedman, Udell and Goldenheim agreed to pay US$19 million, US$8 million and US$7.5 million, respectively. In addition three top executives were charged with a felony and sentenced to 400 hours of community service in drug treatment programs.
Just one of dozens of similar stories over the decades. It's more profitable to break the law and pay the fines, as the fines are minuscule compared to the profit margin. Even if that fine is in the billions of dollars. So sayeth the prophet of profit!
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @07:57PM
Marketing 101: Profit as much as possible, be an asshole to everyone.
--
Trump succeeds in making Nixon look like Hillary, Mission Accomplished!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @08:13PM (1 child)
Because, in case you hadn't noticed, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry is run mostly by psychopaths.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday December 02 2019, @10:35PM
Most industry and politics are run by psychopaths. Now even the presidency.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @08:31PM (1 child)
Why not banana-flavored drugs?
What, you some kinda racists?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @11:03PM
Saving babies in Africa is coutner productive. The last century of trying to save babies there have brought nothing but more suffering. AM I some kind of a monster you ask? Possibly.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Monday December 02 2019, @10:07PM (2 children)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtRohxU1ZS0 [youtube.com]
"It's no accident we're drug oriented. The big drug companies got us that way and they would like to keep us that way. I mean that's a simple thing, they start you early with the oral habit. The orange flavored aspirin for children. Two in the mouth son. Something wrong with your head, two in the mouth. Pop,pop. Remember that, head, mouth, pop, pop. These are orange, there will be other colors later on. Even named it after a saint to throw you off. It's alright son, two in the mouth, it's Saint Joseph, two in the mouth, pop, pop...."
We miss you George....
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @10:40PM (1 child)
So, for people who have HIV/Aids, what do you suggest then?
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday December 03 2019, @05:15PM
Ask President Trump about his healthcare plan, you know, the one promised in February 2017?
Oh, I forgot, that was just strait up bullshit as absolutely nothing was being worked on at all.
We've become so fucked up I actually miss Nixon (I can't believe I just typed that!) who at least attempted to expand coverage to the poor and working class.
Beyond that, I have no idea.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday December 03 2019, @12:36AM
A bit of google research indicates the actual cost is $2 per day and they are selling at a loss (for now? for how many doses actually delivered?) to get enormous amounts of "free" PR coverage.
Its a generic manufacturer whom have never developed anything, this is a decades old drug simply mixed into powder form instead of bad tasting syrup.
The whole thing is kinda pointless anyway... its Africa... they're merely going to die horribly in pain a short time later than they would have. A better solution would be finding a way for Africans to generate more than $1 per day of income so as to easily afford the medicine, but given that its Africa that's impossible, so ...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 03 2019, @01:09AM
Doctor: Drink this or you'll die.
Pickaninny: Tastes bad. Do not want.
Doctor: Here is strawberry version.
Pickaninny: Yum.
Doctor: Unfortunately now you have Ebola and will die.
Pickaninny: Fuck.