AEGiS-UPI: AIDS groups push firm on Viraday price cut

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

AIDS groups push firm on Viraday price cut

United Press International - November 14, 2006

MUMBAI, India - Officials from a global chain of AIDS clinics Tuesday pressured Indian generic firm Cipla to lower the price of AIDS drug Viraday.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which operates free AIDS clinics in the United States, Africa, Latin America and Asia, told Cipla CEO Y.K. Hamied the price of the company's Viraday product, a once-daily AIDS treatment, is too high for many of the world's poor to afford.

Part of the cause of the inaccessibility is excessive custom duties and taxes imposed by governments, particularly in India where the foundation operates three free clinics, it said in a statement.

Both the foundation and Cipla called on the Indian government to exempt AIDS drugs from duties and taxes, and Cipla invited the foundation to submit a pricing proposal on the anti-retroviral AIDS treatments the company manufactures.

There are currently almost 6 million people living with HIV or AIDS in India.

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