Snakebite, when left untreated, can lead to amputation or worst, death, and people now living in this high-tech world are considered lucky because there is such a thing as anti-venom. However, it may not be for long.
Sanofi Pasteur, the division of the multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi that deals with vaccines, is running out of Fav-Afrique, an anti-venom for dangerous snakes, will only last until June 2016. The Independent learned that the company will no longer produce it.
Treating snakebites from mambas, vipers and cobras do not add up any longer, Sanofi Pasteur said after explaining that Mexican, Brazilian and Indian companies have entered the African market, offering low-cost drugs.
Sanofi Pasteur has instead switched their focus on producing the anti-rabies serum, which reportedly uses the same technology as Fav-Afrique. The company said that the demand for this kind of serum is constant, and there were few producers in the market with which to compete.
"We are a private company, the research we do we self-finance," Alain Bernal, Sanofi Pasteur vice-president stated. "We try to balance public health and profit but we live in an economic environment and we have to be realistic."
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international, independent medical humanitarian organization said that 10,000 people may experience unnecessary death because of the withdrawal of Fav-Afrique.
Although there may be alternatives, the MSF said that they were not as good as Fav-Afrique because it is reportedly the only snakebite remedy proven to be safe and effective.
The organization is convinced that Sanofi is negotiating with other companies, sharing their formula, to produce the anti-venom. However, MSF is not expecting for the talks to be settled before late 2016, which means that the substitute snakebite cure will not hit the market in another two years, BBC News learned.
"We are now facing a real crisis so why do governments, pharmaceutical companies and global health bodies turn away when we need them most?" MSF medical adviser Dr. Gabriel Alcoba said.
The humanitarian organization delivered its warning ahead of the meeting in Switzerland, Tuesday, according to the Telegraph. They called for international agencies to make sure that snakebite antidote was available where it is needed, and urged to talk over tropical medicine.
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