In an effort to promote adherence to medication and offer
convenience to many people living with HIV/AIDS, local
pharmaceutical company Cipla Medpro (Pty) Ltd has released South
Africa's first single tablet once-daily dosage of the
antiretroviral lamivudine. This 300 mg dosage is as effective as
the currently available twice daily dose of lamivudine 150 mg and
carries the same safety profile.
Jerome Smith, CEO of Enaleni Pharmaceuticals Ltd and founder of
Cipla Medpro, says the launch of a single tablet once-daily
lamivudine is a significant development for patient groups where
adherence to medication and pill burden is problematic.
"For many people living with HIV/AIDS, adherence to the various
medications necessary to manage the condition is hampered by
difficult living conditions, lifestyle and time constraints. By
offering a single tablet once daily dosage lamivudine we hope to
reduce the pill burden and to promote greater adherence to
medicines, ultimately assisting patients to achieve the necessary
minimum 95% adherence rate.
"Just to give an example, lamivudine 300mg can be prescribed in
combination with other preferred antiretrovirals such as tenofovir
300mg and efavirenz 600mg, both of which are once daily dosages.
Now we can offer these individuals a complete once-daily regimen.
The other benefit is that the 300mg once-daily lamivudine is the
same price as the twice daily dosage, so there is absolutely no
negative cost implication to a person switching from a twice daily
150mg dosage to the 300mg tablet," he says.
Cipla Medpro, South Africa's third largest pharmaceutical company
(by volume) was also the first to launch Triomune, a three-in-one
ARV in South Africa in 2006. Smith says the company currently has
15 registered ARVs on the market, 14 awaiting registration at the
Medicines Control Council and another 9 in the pipeline from Cipla
International, one of the world's leading producers of chronic and
generic medicines and with whom Cipla Medpro enjoys a strong
relationship and a twenty year product pipeline agreement.
