The Angola Sickle Cell Initiative, a public-private partnership
of the Angola Ministry of Health, the Baylor College of Medicine
International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI), Texas Children’s
Hospital and Chevron, is teaming up with the global
biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb to provide children
with sickle cell disease in Angola with an effective medication to
which many patients in the country have lacked access.
The program will provide thousands of Angolan children regular
access to Droxia (hydroxyurea), which is indicated to reduce the
frequency of painful crises and the need for blood transfusions in
patients with sickle cell anemia with recurrent moderate to severe
painful crises. This new five-year demonstration program is
intended to build understanding of the effectiveness of treating
children in resource-limited settings and to establish the cost
benefits to the healthcare systems.
“World Sickle Cell Day was June 19, so this is a momentous time
to announce this new partnership to provide potentially
life-altering medication to thousands of children in Angola, one of
Africa’s countries hardest hit by sickle cell disease,” said Dr.
David Poplack, director of the Texas Children’s Cancer and
Hematology Centers and professor of pediatric oncology at Baylor
College of Medicine. “Hydroxyurea is known to lessen the
devastating complications of sickle cell disease.”
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder in which red blood
cells become irregularly shaped. These sickle-shaped cells can get
stuck in small blood vessels, which can slow or block blood flow
and oxygen to parts of the body, resulting in painful episodes,
serious infections, chronic anemia, damage to body organs and
stroke, among other complications.
Angola has one of the world's highest rates of the genetic blood
condition with up to 10,000 babies born with the disease each year.
By some estimates, up to 50 percent of these children die before
five years of age. However, most patients in the country have not
had access to hydroxyurea.
Bristol-Myers Squibb will donate Droxia for the treatment of up
to 1,200 children during the first two years of the program,
increasing this up to 4,100 after the pilot period. The program
will launch in Luanda and Cabinda and later will expand to
additional sites. Last year, Bristol-Myers Squibb made an initial
donation of Droxia to the Angola Sickle Cell Initiative.
“We are proud to partner with the Angola Sickle Cell Initiative
to help bring much needed treatment to infants born with this
painful and deadly disease,” said John Damonti, vice president of
corporate philanthropy at Bristol-Myers Squibb and president of the
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. “As important as providing
treatment to the 4,100 children is that at the end of this
five-year demonstration project, we should have ample data needed
for governments and funders to consider providing the resources
necessary to support large-scale treatment programs.”
According to Bristol-Myers Squibb, hydroxyurea is indicated to
reduce the frequency of painful crises and need for blood
transfusions in adult patients with sickle cell anemia with
recurrent moderate to severe painful crises (generally at least 3
during the preceding 12 months). Hydroxyurea should be administered
under the supervision of a physician experienced in the use of this
medication for the treatment of sickle cell anemia since treatment
of patients with hydroxyurea may be complicated by severe,
sometimes life-threatening, adverse effects.
The Angola Sickle Cell Initiative will provide medical care and
management of the drug to children in the treatment program. The
Angolan Ministry of Health has committed to the continued treatment
of all the children on hydroxyurea when they reach 10 years old.
The emergency response and global health organization AmeriCares
also is a key partner, shipping the drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb
to Angola.
Leaders of this new initiative hope to demonstrate over the five
years the health benefits and cost effectiveness of a hydroxyurea
treatment program for infants with sickle cell disease, and use
patient data and outcomes as the foundation for an advocacy plan to
provide treatment to all children in Angola and throughout the
continent. Hydroxyurea currently has generic status and is on the
World Health Organization List of Essential Medicines.
“Agreements like this public-private partnership allow
governments to address gaps in healthcare to meet the needs of its
most vulnerable citizens – sick children,” said Michael Mizwa,
chief operating officer of BIPAI, and director of Texas Children’s
Global Health. “We hope BIPAI’s legal and operational framework in
Angola will provide a foundation for many more such partnerships in
the future.”
The Angola Sickle Cell Initiative has been in place in Angola
since 2011. Before its launch, newborns were not screened for the
disease. Since 2011, more than 150,000 babies have been screened
and more than 1,700 babies and children are now in care and
treatment.
Led by Dr. Gladstone Airewele, associate professor of pediatrics
at Baylor and head of the Global Hematology Program at Texas
Children’s Hospital, the Initiative also includes an education and
training component. More than 1,500 Angolans have been trained
through the program, including local physicians, nurses, laboratory
technicians, phlebotomists, social workers and research
coordinators.
The Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas
Children’s Hospital, or BIPAI, is the foundation on which the
Angola Sickle Cell Initiative is based. BIPAI treats more than
250,000 children with HIV/AIDS across a network of clinical centers
in Africa and Romania in which the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation
is also a major partner.
Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers have provided key
support in the success of the Angola Sickle Cell Initiative, and
Chevron has provided $9 million in funding over nine years to the
Angola Sickle Cell Initiative.
About Bristol-Myers
Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose
mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines
that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more
information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or
follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
About AmeriCares
AmeriCares is an emergency response and global health
organization committed to saving lives and building healthier
futures for people in crisis in the United States and around the
world. Every day, AmeriCares puts critically needed medicines and
supplies in the hands of frontline health workers and develops
innovative, sustainable health improvements in their communities.
For more information, visit americares.org.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160624005734/en/
Baylor College of MedicineDana Benson, (713)
798-4710benson@bcm.eduwww.bcm.edu.newsorDipali Pathak, (713)
798-4710pathak@bcm.eduorBristol-Myers SquibbLisa McCormick Lavery,
(609) 252-7602lisa.mccormicklavery@bms.com
Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024