Developing essential medicines
32 medicines developed by Roche are included in the WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines. Thirty of these are patent-free and include many important antibiotics, anti-malarials and chemotherapy drugs.
The WHO core list contains medicines believed to be required for a basic healthcare system, including the most efficacious, safe and cost effective medicines for priority conditions. The WHO Model List serves as a guide for the development of national and institutional essential medicine lists.
| Product | Treatment area |
|---|---|
| alteplase (Activase) | Cardiovascular diseases |
| amitriptyline (Laroxyl) | Anti-depressant / Pallative care |
| ascorbic acid (Redoxon) | Vitamin C deficiency |
| benznidazole (Radanil, Rochagan) | American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease) |
| capecitabine (Xeloda) | Breast, colon and rectal cancer |
| ceftriaxone (Rocephin) | Broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic |
| cycloserine (D-Cycloserine) | Pulmonary tuberculosis |
| diazepam (Valium) | Tranquilizer |
| epoietin beta (NeoRecormon) | Anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease |
| erlotinib (Tarceva) | EGFR mutation positive non-small cell lung cancer |
| flucytosine (Ancotil) | Antifungal medicine |
| fluorouracil (Fluorouracil) | Chemotherapeutic agent |
| heparin sodium (Liquemin) | Anti-coagulation agent |
| isoniazid (Rimifon) | Tuberculosis |
| levodopa + benserazide (Madopar) | Parkinson's disease |
| mefloquine (Lariam) | Malaria |
| methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoietin beta (Mircera) | Anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease |
| midazolam (Dormicum) | Sedation/ Palliative care |
| neostigmine (Prostigmin) | Myasthenia gravis/ Anaesthesia |
| oseltamivir (Tamiflu) | Anti-viral/ Influenza |
| pegylated interferon alpha 2a or 2b (Pegasys) | Anti-viral/ Hepatitis C |
| phytomenadione (Konakion) | Anti-coagulation agent |
| procarbazine (Natulan) | Hodgkin's lymphoma |
| protamine hydrochloride (Protamin) | Heparin antagonist |
| pyridostigmine (Mestinon) | Myasthenia gravis |
| retinol (Arovit) | Vitamin A deficiency |
| rituximab (MabThera/Rituxan) | Non Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia |
| sulfadoxine + pyrimethamine (Fansidar) | Malaria |
| sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim / co-trimoxazole (Bactrim) | Anti-bacterial agent |
| thiamine (Berolase) | Heart failure/Vitamin B1 deficiency |
| trastuzumab (Herceptin) | Breast cancer |
| valganciclovir (Valcyte) | Cytomegalovirus |
For more information see: www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/en
