Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - Sunday October 7, 2001
Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer
Under the deal, to be officially announced Monday, the South African company Aspen Pharmacare will be allowed to sell its versions of the widely used AIDS drugs AZT, 3TC and Combivir to the public health system and to nonprofit groups in South Africa, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The deal doesn't permit Aspen to sell the medicines to any other countries in Africa.
The issue of access to AIDS medication has grown since more than three dozen drug companies, including Glaxo, sued South Africa's government over a law many said would let it import or produce generic versions of the drugs over the companies' objections.
The companies dropped the suit in April under tremendous public pressure. Many of the companies manufacturing the top AIDS medicines also announced plans to sell those drugs at or below cost to the developing world.
Before the agreement with Aspen, Glaxo was already offering its AIDS drugs to South Africa's public health system at cost for about $2 a day for Combivir, a combination of 3TC and AZT.
However, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that even at that price providing the AIDS drugs through the public health system would bankrupt the health department.
Aspen, South Africa's largest generic drug manufacturer, announced in May it would ask five major pharmaceutical companies for licenses to manufacture and sell their AIDS medicines in South Africa, promising it could significantly beat their costs.
The Glaxo deal is the first one to be announced. "Ultimately they think they can beat our prices (and) that will help on the whole access issue," the Glaxo official said.
As part of the agreement, Glaxo and Shire Pharmaceuticals, which hold the patents on the medicines, will charge a 30 percent licensing fee to Aspen. That money will be earmarked for nonprofit organizations fighting HIV and AIDS, the Glaxo official said.
An estimated 4.7 million South Africans are HIV-positive - some 11 percent of the population.
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