Tests and Drugs for AIDS at Reduced Prices

Four drug companies in an agreement negotiated with the William J. Clinton Foundation, (New York, NY, USA) have agreed to sell tests and drugs for AIDS in 50 countries around the world at greatly reduced prices.

Strides Arcolab (Bangalore, India), Cipla (Maharashtra, India), Ranbaxy (Gurgaon, India), and Aspen Pharmacare (South Africa) have all agreed to sell the drug efavirenz for U.S.$240 per patient per year, while Cipla will sell abacavir for $447 per patient per year. These prices are about 30% less than the regular price. The two antiretroviral drugs are usually prescribed when first-line drugs for AIDS lose their effectiveness, and they are several times more expensive than the first-line AIDS drugs.

Tests for AIDS will be sold by Orgenics (Yavne, Israel; www.orgenics.com), Qualpro Diagnostics (India), and Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. (Medford, NY, USA; www.chembio.com) for $0.49-0.65 per test, about half the normal price of the test. The lower-priced tests and drugs are to be available in Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.

"We are proud to join the Clinton foundation in its efforts to bring affordable HIV diagnostic testing to resource-poor countries,” said Ron Zwanziger, CEO of Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. (Waltham, MA, USA). Orgenics is a subsidiary of Inverness Medical.

The Clinton Foundation was formed by former President Clinton, who said he expects to announce more price reductions for other AIDS drugs this year.




Related Links:
Strides Arcolab