JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (IRIN) – Three international organizations have negotiated reductions on key first- and second-line, and paediatric antiretrovirals (ARVs) that will help countries save at least US$600 million over the next three years.

The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the international drug purchasing facility UNITAID and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) made the announcement on 18 May.

The deal, expected to affect most of the 70 countries comprising CHAI’s Procurement Consortium, features notable reductions in the prices of tenofovir (TDF), efavirenz, and the second-line ritonavir-boosted atazanavir (ATV/r) used in HIV patients who have failed initial, or “first-line”, regimens.

As part of the deal, the three bodies set price ceilings for more than 40 adult and paediatric ARVs with eight pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers, including Cipla Ltd, Matrix Laboratories and Autobindo Pharma.

Together these eight companies account for most ARVs sold in countries with access to generic drugs, according to David Ripin, scientific director of CHAI’s Drug Access Programme.

As a result, the cost of ATV/r is down by two-thirds from just three years ago. Meanwhile, a once-a-day fixed-dose combination (FDC) pill containing TDF and efavirenz will now cost countries less than US$159 per patient per year. In 2008, low-income countries paid about $400 per patient per year for the same pill.

How did they do it?

According to UNITAID and CHAI, this success is a product of increased demand for these drugs and more efficient manufacturing of the active ingredients, which are estimated to account for as much as 75 percent of generic ARV costs.

“When you make an active ingredient, you use a multistep chemical process,” Ripin told IRIN/PlusNews. “To reduce costs, you can look for a less expensive source of raw materials of which there are a few examples, including TDF … or you can tinker with the chemical process used to make the product to make them more efficient.”

But Ripin added that doing either comes at a cost for pharmaceutical companies, for whom a change in raw material suppliers or manufacturing processes means re-applying for approval of the drug with regulatory bodies.

“Any time you change anything with the way you make a drug, you need to get regulatory approval,” he said. “You have to do a fair amount of work to prove that your product works just as well now as it did before.

“The pharmaceutical companies and generic manufacturers are fantastic at making these types of improvements… [but] they have a limited set of research and development resources available to them,” Ripin said. “They often need to make a decision where they are going to get a higher return on that research and development, and typically that comes from the introduction of new products on the market.”

According to Ripin, the key is providing companies with data on the large and growing markets for ARVs.

“We help companies evaluate for themselves whether it’s a worthwhile business opportunity,” he said. “The second key factor they have to consider is the competitive marketplace for their drugs, where there is an incentive for lower [production] costs and lower-priced products as they want to maintain their market share.”

CHAI also provides countries with data on best market prices for drugs to help inform national procurement, as was the case with South Africa’s recent ARV tender. Although South Africa is not expected to benefit from the new price cuts, the country has the largest ARV tender in the world, and could secure the drugs at competitive prices. In terms of the CHAI agreement, lower prices are available to members of the Procurement Consortium but are dependant on volumes ordered.

How low can we go?

TDF has become an important drug for many countries, including South Africa, hoping to implement the 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) HIV treatment guidelines, which recommend starting HIV patients on treatment sooner but also a shift away from more toxic ARVs to TDF.

However, the high cost of earlier treatment and better drugs has prohibited many countries from fully implementing the WHO recommendations. According to a recent report released by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), both Malawi and Zimbabwe reversed their move to WHO guidelines due to financial constraints.

While new price reductions bring TDF’s price closer to that of the long-time and widely adopted first-line ARV Zidovudine, further drops in TDF’s price will have to be logged to ensure widespread uptake, said Brenda Waning, coordinator of market dynamics for UNITAID.

For Waning and others like MSF, the issue of sustainable funding for the HIV response looms large ahead of the June UN meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York, rumoured to be the last for years to come, according to MSF’s report.

“There has been a lot of attention on commodities and not at other major drivers of cost,” she told IRIN/PlusNews. “We have to look at other places in the health system where we can capture cost-effectiveness.”

In particular, Waning pointed to the potential savings associated with the roll-out of new point-of-care diagnostics, which, although not high on the global agenda, will help countries task shift such testing away from scarce doctors.

Although the cost remains high, introducting FDC would help governments save on ARV shipping, transportation and storage, while improving adherence and patient outcomes.

llg/kn/mw

– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

View full post on All Stories

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (IRIN) – Three international organizations have negotiated reductions on key first- and second-line, and paediatric antiretrovirals (ARVs) that will help countries save at least US$600 million over the next three years.

The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the international drug purchasing facility UNITAID and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) made the announcement on 18 May.

The deal, expected to affect most of the 70 countries comprising CHAI’s Procurement Consortium, features notable reductions in the prices of tenofovir (TDF), efavirenz, and the second-line ritonavir-boosted atazanavir (ATV/r) used in HIV patients who have failed initial, or “first-line”, regimens.

As part of the deal, the three bodies set price ceilings for more than 40 adult and paediatric ARVs with eight pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers, including Cipla Ltd, Matrix Laboratories and Autobindo Pharma.

Together these eight companies account for most ARVs sold in countries with access to generic drugs, according to David Ripin, scientific director of CHAI’s Drug Access Programme.

As a result, the cost of ATV/r is down by two-thirds from just three years ago. Meanwhile, a once-a-day fixed-dose combination (FDC) pill containing TDF and efavirenz will now cost countries less than US$159 per patient per year. In 2008, low-income countries paid about $400 per patient per year for the same pill.

How did they do it?

According to UNITAID and CHAI, this success is a product of increased demand for these drugs and more efficient manufacturing of the active ingredients, which are estimated to account for as much as 75 percent of generic ARV costs.

“When you make an active ingredient, you use a multistep chemical process,” Ripin told IRIN/PlusNews. “To reduce costs, you can look for a less expensive source of raw materials of which there are a few examples, including TDF … or you can tinker with the chemical process used to make the product to make them more efficient.”

But Ripin added that doing either comes at a cost for pharmaceutical companies, for whom a change in raw material suppliers or manufacturing processes means re-applying for approval of the drug with regulatory bodies.

“Any time you change anything with the way you make a drug, you need to get regulatory approval,” he said. “You have to do a fair amount of work to prove that your product works just as well now as it did before.

“The pharmaceutical companies and generic manufacturers are fantastic at making these types of improvements… [but] they have a limited set of research and development resources available to them,” Ripin said. “They often need to make a decision where they are going to get a higher return on that research and development, and typically that comes from the introduction of new products on the market.”

According to Ripin, the key is providing companies with data on the large and growing markets for ARVs.

“We help companies evaluate for themselves whether it’s a worthwhile business opportunity,” he said. “The second key factor they have to consider is the competitive marketplace for their drugs, where there is an incentive for lower [production] costs and lower-priced products as they want to maintain their market share.”

CHAI also provides countries with data on best market prices for drugs to help inform national procurement, as was the case with South Africa’s recent ARV tender. Although South Africa is not expected to benefit from the new price cuts, the country has the largest ARV tender in the world, and could secure the drugs at competitive prices. In terms of the CHAI agreement, lower prices are available to members of the Procurement Consortium but are dependant on volumes ordered.

How low can we go?

TDF has become an important drug for many countries, including South Africa, hoping to implement the 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) HIV treatment guidelines, which recommend starting HIV patients on treatment sooner but also a shift away from more toxic ARVs to TDF.

However, the high cost of earlier treatment and better drugs has prohibited many countries from fully implementing the WHO recommendations. According to a recent report released by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), both Malawi and Zimbabwe reversed their move to WHO guidelines due to financial constraints.

While new price reductions bring TDF’s price closer to that of the long-time and widely adopted first-line ARV Zidovudine, further drops in TDF’s price will have to be logged to ensure widespread uptake, said Brenda Waning, coordinator of market dynamics for UNITAID.

For Waning and others like MSF, the issue of sustainable funding for the HIV response looms large ahead of the June UN meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York, rumoured to be the last for years to come, according to MSF’s report.

“There has been a lot of attention on commodities and not at other major drivers of cost,” she told IRIN/PlusNews. “We have to look at other places in the health system where we can capture cost-effectiveness.”

In particular, Waning pointed to the potential savings associated with the roll-out of new point-of-care diagnostics, which, although not high on the global agenda, will help countries task shift such testing away from scarce doctors.

Although the cost remains high, introducting FDC would help governments save on ARV shipping, transportation and storage, while improving adherence and patient outcomes.

llg/kn/mw

– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

View full post on All Stories

The median sales price and the number of Metro Detroit homes and condominiums sold in April tumbled, according to a report released Monday, continuing a regional slump through the first four months of the year. The region’s home prices plunged to a median price of $59,000, according to RealComp.

View full post on Business Stories

Oil market is too big to manipulate in any systematic way, expert says.

View full post on Business Stories

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Monday in a case that could make it easier for corporations to get rid of lawsuits by shareholders angered when their stocks lose money.

The business community is intensely interested in the outcome, as evidenced by a large number of amicus, or friend-of-the-court, briefs filed in the case of Erica P. John Fund Inc. v. Halliburton Co.

It involves a lawsuit by shareholders of construction giant Halliburton. They accuse the company of securities fraud by misrepresenting its assets and liabilities in financial statements.

When the truth was disclosed later, Halliburton’s stock value dropped, making shareholders lose investment value.

Afterward, the shareholders got together to ask a federal court in the Northern District of Texas for class action status to sue Halliburton. Class action refers to a single lawsuit that represents the interests of many people.

They say Halliburton violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities Exchange Commission Rule 10-b5.

The shareholders reasoned it would be easier for them to prove they suffered damages in a joint lawsuit than as individuals.

The proof of damages has become the key issue in the lawsuit before the Supreme Court.

The Court must decide whether shareholders must prove misguided actions of the corporate directors caused their losses before they can sue in a class action.

Under current law, a jury decides at trial whether corporate bungling made shareholders lose money.

If the Supreme Court rules damages must be proved before shareholders get authorization for a class action, the number of lawsuits proceeding to trial is likely to plummet, according to securities lawyers.

Legal experts say fewer shareholders would try to sue if they know their chances of reaching trial are small.

Halliburton comes to the Supreme Court with a history of recent controversy.

Oil giant BP accuses Halliburton of shoddy work in construction of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year, leaking millions of barrels of oil into the water.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was the company’s president until 2000.

Suspicions followed him into the White House about whether he used his political influence to improperly steer defense contracts to the company. Halliburton has played a big support role for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Shareholders are alleging similar behind-the-scenes moves in the financial statements that led to their lawsuit.

They say the company’s directors downplayed their liability for asbestos claims. They also say the directors misrepresented Halliburton’s likelihood of collecting revenue from construction contracts and exaggerated the benefits from a merger with Dresser Industries.

Later audits revealed what the shareholders say were misrepresentations. Wall Street responded immediately with a sharp drop in the company’s stock value.

Halliburton argues in its Supreme Court briefs there is no benefit to leaving decisions on evidence for a class action lawsuit to a jury.

Instead, a judge should resolve any class action authorization issues before trial, thereby eliminating costly, drawn-out and often frivolous lawsuits, Halliburton says.

The company’s brief also argued shareholders should not be granted a class action lawsuit because the evidence was too weak they lost money from the company’s incorrect financial statements, thereby “sever[ing] the link between Halliburton’s alleged misrepresentations and that market price.”

So far, Halliburton has won at the lower court level.

The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that before the shareholders can sue for securities fraud, they must prove a stock price decline “resulted directly because of the correction to a prior misleading statement.”

The Erica P. John Fund has not proved Halliburton’s “misleading” statements made shareholders lose money, the court said.

View full post on All Stories

Bosaso, Puntland, Somalia (AHN) – As strife-decimated Somalia suffers under a lengthy drought, food prices have jumped in parts of Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, a local businessman said Saturday.

In an interview with All Headline News, Ahmed Awil, a businessman in Puntland’s commercial town Bosaso described price increases for essential foodstuffs in the markets there that may have an effect on poor people who live in regions under Puntland control.

Awil said that the main factor in the state of the country is that business hinges on give and take or a way of exchange.

“Trade is based on give and take…when you want to charter or rent a boat for business purposes; the owner of the boat may tell you if he is taking goods or livestock to the destination (one of Arab nations) where you want to make business or not. But the situation today is differ from so, no livestock to be exported and severe drought hit many regions in the country including Puntland,” the trader explained.

He says it is difficult to pay a boat’s round-trip rental fee. “If it is so, all businessmen are needed to increase the price to save the existence of their trade. Inflation in the essential foodstuffs comes next as the people are right now complaining it.”

Local residents have expressed a deep concern about the skyrocketing price of food. However, authorities of Puntland have not made any public statements about the food price increase.

Food Product Last Week This Week

(Prices in USD for 50-kilogram/110-pound bag)

1. Flour $26 $34

2. Sugar $42 $43

3. Rice $26 $28

With the nationwide drought, dozens of people died of hunger and thirst late last year and the beginning of 2011 after Islamist militants banned aid agencies from south-central Somalia.

Somalia has not had any functioning central rule to regulate all kinds of social and environmental issues for more than two decades.

View full post on All Stories

Successful Nifty Tips for trading in the stock market in which the relevant authorities as soon as you, no matter where they came from. The share of low-cost one or two categories tend to fall into the former high-flyers are so many divisions. Perhaps a good trader can open the opportunity to take profits in an industry, as long as he managed them. Open the online trading account through the stock brokers will allow you to get the latest cute days of the delivery prompt. Then you can start to buy or sell stocks or stock and share certificates will be issued shares of stock of your evidence yourself. The stock market is a kind of financial network is conducive to financial transactions and stock trading derivative products in the agreed price. We are the trusted provider in the world who likes to make money on the Nifty Options.

SGX nifty market chart looks beautiful and exciting diversity provides an important room, personal portfolio. However, they should accidentally step on the market, and look forward to a long-term investment in the stock market. We provide Tips for stock market short-term returns. Finally, there is a long history, experienced organizations to provide these stock trading services to customers. For more information and details, visit the online stock trading site. Therefore, you consider that the share of quality graph that is essential, mainly because of trading in liquid stocks set to allow the relationship between the risks of the best front-end.

Everyone wants great. If you do not, we think so, but taking into account the sales value of day trading with people lined up outside the stores at the end of the day, buy merchandise sales. Stock analysts and the market in India BSE stock trading have been much easier for investors. Now, it is the most important Nifty Intraday Tips for enterprises to improve significantly the amount of their value. The stock market has its own history. In the past, the concept of the stock market to the people’s objective is to invest the money. But now people think that making money in the short term stock trading.

Product Description
In this book Victor de Villiers shows you how to successfully forecast market prices and determine what action should be taken. The Point & Figure Method is divided into ten chapters, containing charts, pattern examples, and a wealth of historical information. A must-read for those who want a true understanding of the point and figure method…. More >>

The Point & Figure Method of Anticipating Stock Price Movements

Price effects of scalping and day trading;: presented at the 7. Annual symposium, Commodity markets and the public interest, Chicago Board of Trade;

Product Description
This rare VHS video and 22-page workbook features over two hours with Toby Crabel discussing, teaching, and expanding upon ideas in his book, Day Trading with Short-Term Price Patterns and the Opening Range breakout, originally published 4 years earlier. Contents: 1. Preface: Day Trading with Short-term Price Patterns 2. Opening Range Breakout 3. Short-Term Price Patterns 4. The Principle of Contraction/Expansion 5. Money Management 6. Summary 7. Closing Thoughts 8…. More >>

Day Trading with Proven Short Term Price Patterns