Novartis reduces price of malaria drug

Novartis has announced a price reduction for malaria drug Coartem to improve access to treatment in malaria-endemic regions.

The healthcare products company says it will reduce the price by 20 per cent to ensure a dependable supply in order to meet rising demand. Coartem is an artemisinin-based combination of artemether and lumefantrine for the treatment of malaria.

Novartis says the drug is highly effective and provides cure rates of up to 95 per cent, even in areas of multi-drug resistance. Since 2001, it has supplied more than 160 million treatments to malaria-endemic countries.

Dr Daniel Vasella, chairman of Novartis, said: "We are pleased that Novartis is able to significantly reduce the price of Coartem which will further improve access to Coartem for patients in developing countries, helping to save even more lives.

"The effectiveness of Coartem made it the leading ACT medicine in malaria-endemic countries."

World Health Organisation figures show that malaria, which is caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes, affects up to 500 million people every year and is the biggest killer of children in Africa.