The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Provides Unique Model for Fight Against Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa

The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Provides Unique Model for Fight Against Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa

November 09, 2007

Technology Transfer Creates Sustainable Solution to Treat
One of the World's Oldest and Deadliest Diseases

    CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Nov. 9 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
During the annual meeting of the International Union
Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD), The Lilly
MDR-TB Partnership brought together experts to highlight
the battle against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
(MDR-TB) in South Africa as a model for the work being done
by The Partnership around the world. South Africa is one of
the highest-burden MDR-TB countries.

    The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership -- a public-private
initiative of 14 organizations focused on stopping the
spread of MDR-TB and ultimately conquering the disease --
is transferring manufacturing know-how to technology
partners around the world. The technology transfer partner
in South Africa, Aspen Pharmacare, sold its first batch of
cycloserine to Botswana in 2006 and is now producing
cycloserine in a brand new facility in Port Elizabeth,
South Africa, that has a capacity in excess of 4 billion
tablets and capsules per year. Cycloserine is a Lilly
antibiotic that is instrumental in the treatment of
second-line tuberculosis, or MDR-TB. 

    Aspen has also now begun construction of a facility at
the Port Elizabeth site to produce vials of capreomycin,
another critical medicine in the fight against second-line
tuberculosis, and is expected to produce this medicine at
the facility in early 2009.  Capreomycin was developed by
Eli Lilly and Company several years ago.

    "The ability to manufacture cycloserine locally is
essential to treating the plight of multidrug resistance in
South Africa," said Mr. Stavros Nicolaou, Executive
Director of Aspen Pharmacare. "This initiative allows
us to directly address this highly contagious disease,
which has a tremendous impact on the health of our country
and the entire African continent."

    Aspen Pharmacare works closely with the World Health
Organization (WHO) to supply medicine to countries approved
by the WHO Green Light Committee (GLC). The GLC helps
countries gain access to high-quality, second-line anti-TB
medicines so they can provide treatment for people with
MDR-TB in line with WHO guidelines.

    In addition to the transfer of technology, The Lilly
MDR-TB Partnership enhances access to medicines, trains
doctors and nurses, raises awareness, promotes prevention,
supports communities, advocates on behalf of patients and
conducts early-stage drug discovery. 

    "The Lilly Partnership initiatives all have one
thing in common -- improved care for some of the world's
most vulnerable people," said Dr. Patrizia Carlevaro,
Head of the International Aid Unit for Eli Lilly and
Company. "Through initiatives that create immediate,
yet sustainable solutions, our shared goal is to contain
and someday conquer this deadly disease."

    Lilly will host a Satellite Symposium, "The Lilly
MDR-TB Partnership: Coming Together to Fight TB
Resistance," at the IUATLD meeting. The Symposium is
focused on sharing best practices and insights about this
public-private initiative, which is now in its fifth year.
The IUATLD, composed of 127 member countries, has provided
technical assistance, education and research promoting lung
health in low- and middle-income countries for nearly a
century.  

    The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership business model, including
its unique transfer of technology, is making such an impact
that it is now being taught as part of public policy course
work at INSEAD in Paris, France, and soon will be taught at
Harvard and Columbia Universities in the U.S.

    About the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership

    The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership was created to confront
multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, a disease so daunting
that no single organization can fight it alone. Since 2003,
this public-private initiative, mobilizing 14 partners on
five continents, has worked together to share expertise in
the quest to contain and conquer one of the world's oldest
diseases. The Partnership's multi-pronged approach
includes: community support and patient advocacy;
treatment, training and surveillance; transferring
technology; research; and awareness and prevention.
Additional information about The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership
is available at http://www.lillymdr-tb.com.  

    (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO )
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    For more information, please contact:

     Christine Van Marter
     Eli Lilly and Company
     Tel: [phone]