Johannesburg | Tuesday
THREE key anti-Aids drugs will be produced in South Africa for the public sector for about half the current price following a deal between pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and local drug company Aspen Pharmacare, Aspen said Monday.
GlaxoSmithKline has granted Aspen, the country’s largest generic manufacturer, a voluntary licence to manufacture a generic version of its major antiretrovirals (ARVS) — AZT, 3TC and Combivir.
“Our price for Combivir will be about one dollar to $1,50 per patient per day, compared to about two dollars (for the original by GlaxoSmithKline),” said Aspen chief executive officer, Stephen Saad.
“This gives hope to South Africans. By far the majority needing the drugs, those not covered by medical aid and government, are in the public sector,” he said.
South Africa has the world’s highest number of HIV sufferers – 4,7-million at the end of 2000 — but government does not provide them with antiretroviral drugs, largely on the grounds they are too expensive.
Health ministry representative Sibani Mngadi said that Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang would definitely be willing to meet Aspen.
But he could not indicate whether the government would buy the generics until it had details of the agreement.
This position did not change after 39 pharmaceutical companies dropped a lawsuit against the government in April, allowing it to import or manufacture cheap versions of the drugs.
Saad said the company hoped to meet with the health ministry in the next week “to look at total health care savings”.
“The government is already paying to treat secondary infections and for hospitalisation of people with HIV/Aids, which is very expensive,” he said.
He said, that for example, the number of Aids patients at King Edward Hospital in Durban had risen from one in 12 to one in two.
Under the deal, 30% of Aspen’s net sales will be donated to non-governmental organisations that manage programmes related to HIV/Aids in South Africa and GlaxoSmithKline will make nothing out of it, Saad said.
“As the largest supplier of medicines to the public sector in South Africa, Aspen Pharmacare is a natural partner for us in this endeavour,” Howard Pien of GSK head office said in a statement.
Aspen supplies the health department with about 20 to 30 tonnes of tablets, about a quarter of its total volume, daily.
Mark Heywood, representative for Treatment Acton Campaign lobby group, said it welcomed the deal but was qualified in support of it without seeing the detail.
He observed: “We would prefer voluntary licences to be non-exclusive as this is the best way of guaranteeing the lowest possible price.”
“We want the lowest price and if Cipla (an Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer) can produce ARVs cheaper (than Aspen Pharmacare), this would have a fundamental impact on long-term sustainability of treatment.”
The Treatment Action Campaign supported the government in its court case against the pharmaceutical companies.
But recently it launched a lawsuit to compel the government to supply the antiretroviral Nevirapine to pregnant women, to reduce the incidence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Heywood said the government was expected to file its response on October 18. – AFP