AIDS takes a backseat as world fights for access to cheap hepatitis pills
18 Dec 2013 5:05 AM IST
Modern pills being launched in western markets could cure the liver-destroying infection in tens of millions of people from China to Congo, or even eradicate the disease entirely. But that will only happen if the cost falls dramatically.
Drugmakers like Gilead Sciences (GILD.O), whose product Sovaldi won US approval this month with a $1,000 a day price tag, are under mounting pressure to strike deals to avoid a rerun of the disputes that stalled early access to HIV therapy.
‘Affordability is an urgent and pressing issue,’ World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Margaret Chan told Reuters during a visit to London.
‘These drugs are very expensive. How can we address this? I hope we can learn from the lesson of HIV and find solutions without confrontations.’
In the 1990s, HIV/AIDS drugs costing more than $10,000 per patient a year were simply out of reach for millions of people in the developing world. Today, thanks to cheap generics from India, the cost for the poor has been slashed to around $100.
Drugmakers like Gilead Sciences (GILD.O), whose product Sovaldi won US approval this month with a $1,000 a day price tag, are under mounting pressure to strike deals to avoid a rerun of the disputes that stalled early access to HIV therapy.
‘Affordability is an urgent and pressing issue,’ World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Margaret Chan told Reuters during a visit to London.
‘These drugs are very expensive. How can we address this? I hope we can learn from the lesson of HIV and find solutions without confrontations.’
In the 1990s, HIV/AIDS drugs costing more than $10,000 per patient a year were simply out of reach for millions of people in the developing world. Today, thanks to cheap generics from India, the cost for the poor has been slashed to around $100.
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