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South Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world. At the end of 2007, there were approximately 5.7 million people living with HIV in South Africa, and almost 1000 deaths occurring every day. Currently, most HIV treatments are imported from overseas with very few drugs produced in the country. This results in high costs making many frontline treatments inaccessible to the poverty stricken masses that need it most. |
HIV/AIDS
The global sales of the antiretroviral drug Abacavir was 220 million dollars in 2007. The drug has been out of patent since 2009.
iThemba Pharmaceuticals has licensed technology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to produce this frontline antiretroviral drug via a novel synthetic process. The company is actively seeking partners to license this exciting technology.
β-thymidine is an important precursor to the two antiretrovirals Stavudine (d4T) and Zidovudine (AZT), and also finds application in the manufacture of other fine chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The estimated global demand for this product is about 1,200 tonnes per annum.
iThemba holds an exclusive license for a CSIR/UCT developed technology for β-thymidine production (PCT application pending). The process uses a biocatalytic trans-glycosidation to prepare 5-methyluridine from thymine (CSIR), followed by a three step chemical chemical transformation to β-thymidine (UCT). A detailed techno-economic assessment has shown that the new route has a raw material cost saving of 30% vs the existing fermentation technology.
Interested parties are invited to make contact with iThemba in connection with sub-licenses for the technology, or joint ventures for manufacture of thymidine/zidovudine in South Africa. A full process package up to 1 kg scale is available.