Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - December 8, 2004
ARV licence issued: GlaxoSmithKline has granted a fourth voluntary licence to a South African generics firm to market its anti-Aids medicines, the world's leading supplier of HIV/Aids drugs said on Monday.
"GlaxoSmithKline has granted a voluntary licence to generics company Biotech Laboratories for the manufacture and sale of some of its antiretrovirals," the British-based company said in a statement.
Biotech will be able to supply the antiretrovirals to both the public and private markets throughout sub-Saharan Africa under the terms of its agreement.
Africa is the continent hardest hit by the HIV/Aids pandemic and South Africa's caseload of more than five million infected people is the world's largest.
Local production of cheap generic drugs is viewed as increasingly important as more countries around the world seek to make Aids treatments widely available.
GlaxoSmithKline said the move underlined its commitment to broadening access to antiretroviral medicines.
However, critics have contended that its voluntary licensing schemes have failed to get cheap drugs to those most in need.
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