Aluvia launched

On World Aids Day, the youth of Uganda were the first to gain access to Aluvia, a second-line, anti-retroviral (ARV), formulated specifically for children.

“We are the first institute in the whole world selected to launch this live saving drug,” said Peter Mugyenyi, director of the Joint Clinical Research Centre (Uganda’s pioneer AIDS research and treatment institution), where Aluvia was launched.

Aluvia, a combination of two drugs, lopinavir and ritonavir, is created by Abbott Pharmaceuticals the company behind the adult ARV Kaletra. Aluvia is the first and only second-line therapy for children.

Under a waiver order Abbot was able to ship the medication to Uganda after it was approved by the American Food and Drug administration. A waiver order allows medicines to be shipped before it is approved in the specific country, provided permission has been given be the government.

“JCRC has identified over 60 children in immediate need for this life saving treatment,” said President Yoweri Museveni, on why he gave his approval. He has been applauded by many researchers in the HIV/AIDS community for his fight against the disease.

As more medications are discovered President Museveni says the government will work with many organizations to ensure access for Ugandan citizens.

“Clinton Foundation is now working with JCRC to make [new] treatments available to our children,” he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.3 million children under the age of 15 are living with HIV and a majority of those live in Africa. Until recently, paediatric formulations were unavailable, so hospitals and clinics were left breaking adult tablets into halves, or quarters, an estimate of the correct dosage.

In Uganda 115,000 children are infected with HIV and many of those can no longer take first-line ARV treatments due to negative reactions, or the virus becoming resistant to the medications.

“Introduction of second-line medicine for children living with HIV will hep restore hope for millions of parents and children who would otherwise face a bleak future if first-line therapy failed,” said Mugyenyi.

“Co-formulated lopinavir/ritonavir is a WHO recommended second-line HIV treatment regimen for children, and Abbott is making its latest, most innovative version available to our most vulnerable sector of society; children who live in poor countries,” he said

Aluvia can be taken with or without food, and doesn’t require refrigeration. This increases the usability of the medication as many people in developing nations don’t have consistent access to adequate nutrition and millions live without power.

“We want to ensure the child from Uganda takes no longer to receive medication than children in the developed world,” said Angelo Kondes, Abbott International’s regional director for the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan.

The treatment is being offered to Uganda through Abbott’s Access program; the two-tired pricing system used across 115 low- and middle income country. Aluvia costs $250 per child per year.