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Jul 19, 2006 Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations at their summit did not act on an opportunity to adopt an advance market commitment plan aimed at funding the development of vaccines for diseases -- including HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria -- that largely affect developing nations, pharmaceutical companies said on Tuesday, Reuters Health reports (Reuters Health, 7/18). Under the plan, G8 nations would provide between $800 million and $6 billion to subsidize the purchase of new vaccines. Wealthy nations also would provide funding to pharmaceutical companies when they produce safe and effective vaccines, and drug makers would sell the vaccines at reduced prices in developing countries when G8 nations have provided the promised amount. The total amount of the G8 pledge and the price per dose of each vaccine would be negotiated ahead of time (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/13). G8 nations had planned to choose a main project for the plan when they met in St. Petersburg, Russia, for their three-day summit, which ended on Monday, but disagreements over funding stalled the plan. Harvey Bale, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations in Geneva, said although the plan stalled at the summit, he hoped that the G8 would keep working on the concept and that the program would be adopted soon. GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Sanofi-Aventis and Wyeth are among the drug companies that could participate in the plan, Reuters Health reports (Reuters Health, 7/18). |
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