BRAZIL: Brazil Says It Obtains Record Discount on AIDS Drugs

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

BRAZIL: Brazil Says It Obtains Record Discount on AIDS Drugs

Associated Press (11.14.03) - Monday, November 17, 2003

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s agreement to give Brazil a 76 percent discount on the new AIDS drug Atazanavir represents a breakthrough in the country's relationship with the pharmaceutical industry, its health ministry said Friday. "It demonstrates that it is possible to provide health inputs in developing countries in line with the socioeconomic situation," said press officer Eliane Izolan. With one of the world's most progressive AIDS programs, Brazil provides its citizens with free AIDS drugs by producing its own generic versions of the drugs - ignoring patents issued before 1997 when Brazil signed an intellectual property law in order to join the World Trade Organization. Brazil has yet to strip a patent of any of the newer AIDS drugs, though it has threatened to do so with companies whose prices it considers abusive.
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