WHO declares pre-qualification of Ranbaxy''s Triviro-LNS tablets
By Mumbai: | 04 Dec 2003
The product, bio-equivalent to the individual innovators' drugs, has been available in several developing countries and in India for nearly two years. Triviro-LNS is a comprehensive first-line anti-retroviral treatment for HIV positive patients that have been prescribed the regimen.
Says Ranbaxy CEO and managing director D S Brar: "The approval of the triple combinations by WHO is a significant and welcome step. Several countries have been eagerly awaiting WHO's certification of these products, which have already been used successfully in India and some other countries. More patients should now be able to use the convenient two-pill-a-day regimen from the current six-pill-a-day regimen."
Pill
burden, which has been a bane of HIV treatment, prompted
generic companies such as Ranbaxy to develop combination
of ARVs in a single pill. Networks of HIV positive people
and several non-governmental organisations have been urging
WHO for the past several months to speed up the approval
of generic fixed dose combinations,
which are seen as a major improvement in the management
of HIV. WHO's pre-qualification of anti-HIV drugs has
become a benchmark for quality since the first list was
released in 2002.