Aventis and Novartis offer African drug aid

Aventis has said it will spend $25 million over five years to supportWorld Health Organization efforts against African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), including donating pentamidine, melarsoprol and eflornithine for distribution by Medecins sans Frontieres. Bristol-Myers Squibb says it will fund the cost of supplying the bulk material for the production of 60,000 vials of eflornithine, which is about a year's supply.

Also, Novartis has offered to supply its antimalaria drug Riamet (artemether/lumefantrine) at cost to sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO says this translates to around $2.50 per course for an adult and $1.50 for a child.