HIV/AIDS Generic Drug Price Breakthrough; President Clinton Leads Way

HIV and AIDS have plagued the world and in particular developing nations as treatment has been expensive and unattainable for millions. However this week an international force with President Bill Clinton as the spokesperson stuck a deal was the latest in a series of price reductions on new-generation AIDS drugs which would otherwise be too pricey for developing countries to afford.

Some 33.3 million people globally are infected with HIV, and most them live in Africa and other developing countries.

The group includes The Boston-based Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Geneva's UNITAID, and the British government's department for international development (DFID). Clinton stated:

"With more than nine million people worldwide in need of HIV/AIDS treatment, we must see rapid action to increase people's access to treatment. These new price reductions will provide millions of people with increased access to better, cheaper and more convenient first and second-line drug regimens."

President Bill Clinton's foundation helped secure the price cuts through negotiations with generic drug makers and suppliers. The price of a first line regimen based on the drug tenofovir would now be less than $159 per patient per year, the partnership said, which is a reduction of 60% from the average price paid in 2008.

Tenofovir is used in combination with other antiviral medications to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Tenofovir is in a class of antiviral medications called reverse transcriptase inhibitors. It works by slowing the spread of HIV in the body. Tenofovir is not a cure and may not decrease the number of HIV-related illnesses. In addition, tenofovir does not prevent the spread of HIV to other people.

A second line of treatment will be down to approximately $410 annually when in 2008, prices ranged from $800 to $1,200 per patient. With many countries shifting increasingly toward using these regimens, the price cuts secured since 2008 are expected to result in over $600 million in cost savings over the next three years, the partnership said in a statement.

Over the last three years, the collaboration between UNITAID and CHAI has helped to increase access to ARVs among children and second-line patients by making drugs more widely available and improving market dynamics. The partnership currently provides ARVs to over 300,000 patients in 42 countries, including nearly 200,000 children.

CHAI has also supported country-specific strategies to increase human resources for health in 9 out of our 10 partner countries in Africa, with interventions including training, curriculum development, clinical mentoring, and recruiting. They are also launching a new initiative focused on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in more than 6 countries. The program focuses on testing all pregnant women, increasing access to primary health and community-based outreach services, providing effective treatment, and offering safe infant feeding choices.

HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic that is significantly impacting the developing world and threatening to undermine virtually all social and economic goals in these regions. In some countries, more teachers die of AIDS every year than can be trained to take their place. And in several sub-Saharan African countries, more than half of the hospital beds are frequently occupied with AIDS patients, crowding out care for others.

Source: The William J. Clinton Foundation

Written by Sy Kraft