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ARV PRICES HAVE GONE DOWN IN SOUTH AFRICA

December 8, 2006

The South African government is able to buy HIV drugs for only 5 percent of the price it was paying for them five years ago, according to an article in the Mail & Guardian, a national news source. This drop in price is partly a result of the voluntary licenses granted by multinational drug companies to local generic firms, such as Aspen Pharmacare.

Aspen currently sells a generic triple-therapy antiretroviral (ARV) consisting of 150 mg of lamivudine, 40 mg of stavudine and 200 mg of nevirapine for less than $14 per person a month, the Mail & Guardian reports. In 2001, the price for the same drug was roughly $285, according to the Médecins sans Frontières' recent report on access to ARVs in developing countries.

Similarly, a combination therapy consisting of 150 mg of lamivudine, 40 mg of stavudine and 600 mg of efavirenz currently costs approximately $38, while in 2001 it cost $620, according to the Mail & Guardian.

A number of factors, such as increased competition and cheaper ingredients, have led to the fall in ARV prices, but one of the most important factors has been the voluntary licenses granted to generic companies, the article says.

International organizations have also helped by negotiating reduced prices of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for generic manufacturers, the Mail & Guardian reports. Aspen imports APIs from India with which to manufacture its generic drugs.