In a bid to expand access to a key AIDS drug, ViiV Healthcare and the Medicines Patent Pool reached an agreement that will allow generic manufacturers to provide the Tivicay treatment to four upper-middle-income countries by 50% to 70% off existing interim pricing.
The arrangement will make it possible for lower-cost versions to reach Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia after the countries balked at being excluded from a 2014 licensing agreement that covers dozens of lower and middle-income nations. Although classified by the World Bank as upper middle-income nations, all four governments argued that current pricing prevented many patients from being treated.
Over the years, brand-name drug makers have either worked with the Medicines Patent Pool or reached deals directly with generic manufacturers to allow lower-cost versions of HIV and hepatitis C treatments to reach poorer nations. For the most part, though, such agreements have largely excluded countries that are classified as upper-middle income.
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