Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 13, 2005
Manufacturer swallows bitter pill: Brazil has reached an agreement with United States pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories to lower Aids drug Kaletra's price, heading off a possibility that the country would break the patent.
"With the agreement, the need for breaking the patent is suspended," Health Minister Jose Saraiva Felipe said. "The price we reached is what the national Aids programme could pay."
In June, Brazil's Health Ministry had threatened to break the patent on Kaletra and produce the drug itself at government laboratories unless the company substantially lowered the price.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said the deal would reduce the price of Kaletra to 63c a pill, down from its current price of $1,17, saving the government $339-million over six years.
Kaletra is one of more than a dozen medications that makes up the so-called drug cocktail used to treat patients with HIV or Aids.
Brazil has repeatedly threatened to break patents of Aids drugs from several companies. The government has been successful in reaching substantial price reductions, but has never actually broken a patent of an Aids drug.
The United Nations regards Brazil's Aids programme as a model for treating the disease in the developing world. The government provides Aids drugs free of charge to those who need them, currently about 160 000 patients.
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