|
"Deal sealed with two firms to lower
HIV drug cost"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(16/05/07)
LONDON: A deal with two drug companies to lower the price of anti-retroviral
treatment (ARV) for HIV/AIDS offers hope for millions of people in the
developing world.
The deal, brokered by the Clinton Foundation and reached in partnership with
international drug purchase facility UNITAID and Indian-based generic
manufacturers Cipla and Matrix, will provide more than US$100mil (RM340mil)
to buy so-called “second-line” ARV medicines – to counter HIV drug
resistance to initial treatment – for 27 developing nations in Africa, Asia,
Latin America and the Caribbean.
In addition to reduced prices for second-line medicines, Cipla has produced
a “gold-standard” first-line medicine – a pill combining the drugs tenofovir,
emtricitabine and efavirenz that needs to be taken just once a day –
available for US$339 (RM1,153) a year, or less than US$1 (RM3.40) a day.
US-based biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences has also announced it will
launch one dollar a day generic versions of its HIV/AIDS drug “Viread” in
the next three to six months through its Indian partners.
Anti-retroviral drug therapy is the main type of treatment for HIV. It is
not a cure, but it can stop people from becoming ill for many years.
The treatment consists of a combination of drugs that have to be taken every
day for the rest of a patient’s life.
Therapy requires at least two and preferably three drugs to be taken at the
same time, several times a day. The reason for this is that if you only take
one drug, it will just be a short time before HIV becomes resistant to the
medication.
It generally takes longer before the virus becomes resistant to a
second-line combination of several drugs together.
World Bank figures show that the annual cost for a patient receiving
triple-combination ARV therapy, including the cost of the drugs, outpatient
visits, blood cell counts and viral load tests ranges from US$8,700
(RM29,600) to US$13,900 (RM47,293), with the drugs constituting between 58%
and 77% of total annual costs per patient. — Graphic News
 Back to
News Page
|
