Generic Drug Deal Lowers Cost Of AIDS Medication
A group of generic drug manufacturers has arranged a bulk purchase to help the cost of AIDS medicines in poor countries come down further in price, Reuters reported.
The deal will provide steeper discounts on a range of life-saving treatments.
The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative and the international drug-purchasing consortium Unitaid announced the agreement on Friday.
The most affordable generic second-line drug regimen falls to $590 annually from more than $700 a year ago. These types of drugs are needed when patients develop resistance to initial treatment.
Now dropping 30 percent from 2008 is a one-pill, once-daily first-line regimen based on the drug tenofovir that is now available for $210 a year.
The group said the new price agreement would benefit 41 adult and pediatric formulations at an average reduction of 16 percent compared to 2008.
While the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS currently has no cure, doctors can prescribe combinations of drugs that can keep the virus from replicating and damaging the immune system.
Experts say around 33 million people around the world are infected with the AIDS virus, with the majority being in Africa and other developing countries.
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