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http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007May08/0,4670,ClintonAIDS,00.html
Bill Clinton Announces AIDS Drug Deals
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
NEW YORK - Former President Bill Clinton announced agreements with drug
companies Tuesday to lower the price in the developing world of AIDS drugs
resistant to initial treatments and to make a once-a-day AIDS pill available
for less than $1 a day.
The drugs to battle so-called "second-line" anti-retrovirals are needed by
patients who develop a resistance to first-line treatment and currently cost
10 times as much, Clinton said. Nearly half a million patients will require
these drugs by 2010.
Clinton's foundation negotiated agreements with generic drug makers Cipla
Ltd. and Matrix Laboratories Ltd. that he said would generate an average
savings of 25 percent in low-income countries and 50 percent in
middle-income countries.
Clinton also announced a reduced price for a once-daily first-line AIDS pill
that combines the drugs tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz.
He said the new price of $339 per patient per year would be 45 percent lower
than the current rate available to low-income countries and 67 percent less
than the price available to many middle-income countries
The Clinton Foundation's activities are being financed by UNITAID, an
organization formed by France and 19 other nations that have earmarked a
small portion of their airline tax revenues for HIV/AIDS programs in
developing countries.
UNITAID will provide the foundation with more than $100 million to buy
second-line medicines for 27 countries through 2008.
"Every person living with HIV deserves access to the most effective
medicines, and UNITAID aims to ensure that these are affordable for all
developing countries," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy,
chairman of UNITAID's board, said in a statement.
Since starting its HIV/AIDS Initiative in 2002, the Clinton Foundation has
worked with 25 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia to set up AIDS
treatment and prevention programs.
The foundation also provides access to lower-priced AIDS drugs in 65
countries. Some 650,000 people are now receiving AIDS drugs purchased
through the Clinton Foundation.
Clinton said Cipla and Matrix collaborated with the foundation to lower
production costs in part by securing lower prices for raw materials.
Bill Clinton Announces AIDS Drug Deals
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
NEW YORK - Former President Bill Clinton announced agreements with drug
companies Tuesday to lower the price in the developing world of AIDS drugs
resistant to initial treatments and to make a once-a-day AIDS pill available
for less than $1 a day.
The drugs to battle so-called "second-line" anti-retrovirals are needed by
patients who develop a resistance to first-line treatment and currently cost
10 times as much, Clinton said. Nearly half a million patients will require
these drugs by 2010.
Clinton's foundation negotiated agreements with generic drug makers Cipla
Ltd. and Matrix Laboratories Ltd. that he said would generate an average
savings of 25 percent in low-income countries and 50 percent in
middle-income countries.
Clinton also announced a reduced price for a once-daily first-line AIDS pill
that combines the drugs tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz.
He said the new price of $339 per patient per year would be 45 percent lower
than the current rate available to low-income countries and 67 percent less
than the price available to many middle-income countries
The Clinton Foundation's activities are being financed by UNITAID, an
organization formed by France and 19 other nations that have earmarked a
small portion of their airline tax revenues for HIV/AIDS programs in
developing countries.
UNITAID will provide the foundation with more than $100 million to buy
second-line medicines for 27 countries through 2008.
"Every person living with HIV deserves access to the most effective
medicines, and UNITAID aims to ensure that these are affordable for all
developing countries," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy,
chairman of UNITAID's board, said in a statement.
Since starting its HIV/AIDS Initiative in 2002, the Clinton Foundation has
worked with 25 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia to set up AIDS
treatment and prevention programs.
The foundation also provides access to lower-priced AIDS drugs in 65
countries. Some 650,000 people are now receiving AIDS drugs purchased
through the Clinton Foundation.
Clinton said Cipla and Matrix collaborated with the foundation to lower
production costs in part by securing lower prices for raw materials.
