AIDS drug Tenofovir price set to crash
Blockbuster AIDS drug Tenofovir is set to get cheaper after its inventor and US patent holder Gilead struck non-exclusive licensing deals with four more Indian drug makers on Thursday.
By Javed Syed and Gireesh Chandra Prasad, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Blockbuster AIDS drug Tenofovir is set to get cheaper after its inventor and US patent holder Gilead struck non-exclusive licensing deals with four more Indian drug makers on Thursday. For crores of HIV/AIDS patients, the annual cost of treatment using tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (generic name) is set to fall from about Rs 60,000 to about Rs 16,000 in the coming days as the price war heats up. The drug blocks an enzyme which the virus needs to embed itself in a healthy cell and to programme itself to replicate.
Gilead Sciences senior VP Gregg H Alton told ET the company is talking to two more Indian companies for licensing deals to make the drug. The deals are designed to encourage competition among local companies. Gilead is also talking to a few companies to bring into India its own brand of tenofovir, Viread. “The cost of manufacturing for us is 70 cents per pill and we intend to bring our brand for less than a dollar per pill. Indian companies are also looking at similar prices,” Mr Alton said.
Treatment using Cipla’s version of the drug costs about $700 or Rs 31,000 a year, while with Hetero Drugs’ product, it costs about Rs 60,000 a year. Srinivas Reddy, director (marketing), Hetero Drugs, told ET that the company’s product has been in the market for a year, but it is gearing up for an “aggressive pricing strategy” after getting the technology from Gilead.
Anticipating a price war, Cipla has decided to cut prices of its version by nearly half. “We will confirm the quantum of the cut in the next few days,” said Cipla joint MD Amar Lulla.
Gilead’s new licensing deals are with Alchem Labs, JB Chemicals, Shasun Pharma and Aurabindo. Earlier, the company had announced non-exclusive deals with Pune’s Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Hyderabad’s Hetero Drugs and Bangalore’s Strides Arcolab to sell the drug at a rate that would cost the patient $365 for a year’s treatment.
Mr Reddy said Hetero Drugs had opted for the deal as it provides access to an evolved technology in a cost-effective manner.
Also, even if Gilead’s patent application is granted, the deal would ensure continuous availability of the drug for patients.
Gilead Sciences senior VP Gregg H Alton told ET the company is talking to two more Indian companies for licensing deals to make the drug. The deals are designed to encourage competition among local companies. Gilead is also talking to a few companies to bring into India its own brand of tenofovir, Viread. “The cost of manufacturing for us is 70 cents per pill and we intend to bring our brand for less than a dollar per pill. Indian companies are also looking at similar prices,” Mr Alton said.
Treatment using Cipla’s version of the drug costs about $700 or Rs 31,000 a year, while with Hetero Drugs’ product, it costs about Rs 60,000 a year. Srinivas Reddy, director (marketing), Hetero Drugs, told ET that the company’s product has been in the market for a year, but it is gearing up for an “aggressive pricing strategy” after getting the technology from Gilead.
Anticipating a price war, Cipla has decided to cut prices of its version by nearly half. “We will confirm the quantum of the cut in the next few days,” said Cipla joint MD Amar Lulla.
Gilead’s new licensing deals are with Alchem Labs, JB Chemicals, Shasun Pharma and Aurabindo. Earlier, the company had announced non-exclusive deals with Pune’s Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Hyderabad’s Hetero Drugs and Bangalore’s Strides Arcolab to sell the drug at a rate that would cost the patient $365 for a year’s treatment.
Mr Reddy said Hetero Drugs had opted for the deal as it provides access to an evolved technology in a cost-effective manner.
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Also, even if Gilead’s patent application is granted, the deal would ensure continuous availability of the drug for patients.
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