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Quality of Emergency Contraceptive Pills: Should we worry? Elizabeth Westley, ICEC Coordinator

Quality of Emergency Contraceptive Pills: Should we worry? Elizabeth Westley, ICEC Coordinator Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition Membership Meeting Addis Ababa, June 24th. Key Points. Current situation re: EC market.

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Quality of Emergency Contraceptive Pills: Should we worry? Elizabeth Westley, ICEC Coordinator

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  1. Quality of Emergency Contraceptive Pills: Should we worry? Elizabeth Westley, ICEC Coordinator Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition Membership Meeting Addis Ababa, June 24th

  2. Key Points • Current situation re: EC market. • Clarify language: difference between counterfeits and unknown quality. • Approaches for counterfeits. • Approaches for drugs of unknown quality. “IMHO”

  3. Levonorgestrel Emergency Contraceptive Pills • Also known as the “morning after pill,” • Taken after intercourse to prevent pregnancy. • Older, off-patent hormone. • Widely used in combined oral contraceptives. • Excellent safety profile, decades of use. • Relatively low cost

  4. Finding a Manufacturing Partner • Only one manufacturer – Gedeon Richter - initially willing to package LNG as ECPs. • Partnership between Gedeon Richter, WHO, and Concept Foundation on behalf of Consortium – expired in 2007. • Requirements: stringent regulatory approval, low price to public sector, collaboration on labeling.

  5. Fast Forward: 2011 • ICEC database lists 81 separate manufacturers of LNG ECPs. • Women tend to obtain EC at pharmacies, not clinics. • Commercial sector very strong, very interested in EC.

  6. Looking on the bright side • Number of products registered has long been a metric of success. • The more products, the more access for women. • EC tends to be fairly expensive and more products might drive the price down.

  7. EC is a test case because it is a “successful” RH product • Profitable: Social marketing companies can usually sell it for full cost recovery. • Commercial sector very interested in EC market. • Relatively easy to manufacture, low cost. • Women like EC (when they know about it) and will pay out of pocket for it.

  8. Three Streams of EC Products • Donor or government procured. • NGO/social marketing procured. • Pure commercial sector: regulated at the country level by local drug regulatory authority.

  9. Quality of Products • Products in first two streams – donor/govt procured and NGO/social marketing procured – are of assured quality. • Some of the products in the commercial sector may be of unknown quality. • Where is our sphere of influence, especially for products that are not donor/NGO procured?

  10. Counterfeiting • Two separate issues related to quality: counterfeit and substandard drugs. • VERY DIFFERENT ISSUES! • Counterfeited products have been reported by manufacturers in some markets but are unlikely to be a major problem (yet).

  11. What to do about fakes? At this point fakes do not seem to be a major problem for RH drugs. Responsibility lies with: • Manufacturers • Country drug regulatory agencies – can they be strengthened? • Global anti-counterfeiting efforts currently focused on anti-malarials, ARVs – can we persuade them to add RH drugs to their remit?

  12. Drugs of unknown quality • Legitimately registered in the country of sale. • Intended to work as the “innovative” drug but may be manufactured in a less controlled environment. • Some costs may be cut for profit: may have inadequate active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). • May not be bio-equivalent to innovative drug as regards dissolution and other tests.

  13. What to do about drugs of unknown quality? • Strengthen national and regional regulatory and drug safety systems. • Market known-quality drugs as “value added.” • Don’t assume they are going to be ineffective – “unknown” does not need to mean “bad.”

  14. QJB (Quick Joke Break) • Doctor, is it bad? • Not too bad, I can do the surgery under local anesthetic. • Local? Can’t you use imported?

  15. Why does ICEC care? Our mission: “To expand access to safe and locally appropriate EC with a focus on developing countries.” Are all EC products equally safe and effective?

  16. When you find yourself in unfamiliar territory…

  17. It may be time to JUMP IN!

  18. ICEC Plans • One-day technical consultation in October 2011. • Possible product assessments? • ICEC supports RHSC efforts to address quality and calls for a shared vision and commitment to address the quality of RH products.

  19. Thank You! www.emergencycontraception.org http://my.ibpinitiative.org/ICEC

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