Pharma and biotech company Laurus Labs has in a statement tried to assuage market concerns over the financial impact over the funding halt to US President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and said on January 27 that it sees no impact on procurement.
Shares of Laurus Labs are down by over 10% after December quarter earnings, along with the ruboff arising from the pause on funding by American administration.
"If at all there may be funding challenge, the Company reasonably believes it will not affect the procurement of medications," said Laurus Labs. The Trump administration had last week halted disbursement of funds to programmes that are treating HIV in developing countries for at least 90 days.
Laurus added that the overall AIDS funding comes from respective country Governments, PEPFAR, and the Global fund. Global agencies have 'worked well' so far to control the pandemic disease of AIDS, said the pharma company. Laurus also cited that the overall Anti-Retro Viral (ARV) medicine market is at around $ 1.5 billion, which is only 10% of the total HIV financing budget, annually.
Laurus assured that it 'reasonably believes' that there will 'not be significant impact' on its business.
The PEPFAR program, launched during the George W Bush administration, has been credited with saving millions of lives globally, providing billions in funding to combat HIV and supplying ARVs to over 20 million people across 55 countries.
US had contributed $1.3 billion to WHO during 2022 and 2023 to fund projects working on containing HIV, polio, Ebola and a recent outbreak of Marburg virus. Reports also suggest that the review of foreign aid by the Trump administration and a final decision on the issue may take up to six months.
Laurus Labs also cited reports that suggested that President Trump may re-join the World Health Organisation, just days after signing the executive order announcing America's decision to leave the grouping. He was speaking at a rally in Nevada. "May be we would consider it again, they have to clean it up," Trump had said at the rally on January 25.
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