WELLCOME SETS UP RETROVIR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
<Burroughs Wellcome Co> said it has
set up a distribution system to ensure the people in most need
can get Retrovir, the first drug shown to have activity against
AIDS, during an initial period while supplies of the drug are
limited.
    At a press conference here, Paul Dreyer, the company's
product manager for the drug, said physicians must submit an
enrollment application to the company for each new patient who
is a candidate for taking the drug.
    The company is the U.S. arm of Wellcome Plc.
    The application will list several items required to
evaluate a patient. The company will inform doctors within one
week if a patient meets enrollment criteria and whether there
are sufficient amounts of the drug available.
    On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the
drug for wide clinical use. The drug is not a cure for AIDS,
but it does prolong the lives of certain people with AIDS, who
have a history of certain types of pneumonia, and patients with
an advanced form of AIDS-related complex whose immune systems
have declined after infection with the virus.
    The company said it only has enough supply of the drug to
treat 15,000 patients and by the end of the year should have
enough supply to treat 30,000 patients.
    Dreyer said physicians can call 1-800-843-9388 for
information about distribution of the drug, and pharmacists can
call 1-800-322-1887 to place orders for the drug.
    Dreyer added this distribution system will end once an
adequate supply of the drug is available.
    Thomas Kennedy, vice president of corporate affairs,
declined to comment on the cost of developing the drug.
    Some organizations have criticized the high cost of the
drug, which is said to be between 7,000 and 10,000 dlrs per
year for treatment. Dreyer said it took seven months to make
the drug, and the company obtained the principal raw material
from Pfizer Inc <PFE>.
    Dryer said the company is developing other suppliers.
    The company said it spent 80 mln dlrs for the raw materials
for the drug and an undisclosed amount on research, but would
not disclose the total cost of developing Retrovir.
    Burroughs has cited the high cost of making the drug as one
of the reasons for its cost.
 Reuter
