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Stabilising the cost of malaria treatment: Clinton foundation’s new initiative

23 Jul 2008

Paul Chinnock

Source: William J Clinton Foundation (see original article)
Source: Yahoo News (see original article)

The standard treatment for malaria now involves the use of artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) and good progress is being made to bring these drugs into use in all malaria-endemic countries. However, a barrier is the constantly changing price of artemisinin. Former US president Bill Clinton has announced that his William J Clinton Foundation is setting up a scheme to stabilize the price.

In the past six years alone, the price of artemisinin, sourced from an extract of the wormwood plant, has ranged from $150 to $1,100 per kilogram – a 700% swing in pricing. Current trends and risks, including natural disasters, could create a future of recurring supply shortages and large fluctuations in ACT prices.

The Clinton Foundation has announced new agreements with several companies (Calyx, Cipla, Holleypharm, Ipca Laboratories, Mangalam Drugs and PIDI Standard) that it claims will reduce the price volatility of artemisinin by 70 percent. The new price for ACT will be an average of just 48 cents per treatment. At this stage the countries that will benefit will be the 69 nations that are part of an existing Foundation initiative which, till now, has focused on HIV/AIDS.

In addition, the Foundation has developed a comprehensive and accurate forecast of the demand for ACTs to help manufacturers and farmers plan successful production. They have also worked with a number of suppliers to help prepare them for an increase in demand.

Announcing the initiative and holding up a clipping of the wormwood plant, Bill Clinton said, ‘The supply as well as the demand have led to these dramatic fluctuations in prices. Our goal, among other things, is to make sure that this little plant is available in sufficient supply, and that over time we can rationalize the prices.’

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