Cipla to supply anti-AIDS drugs to Nigerian Govt.

By Ramnath Subbu

MUMBAI, APRIL 27. The Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company, Cipla, has signed an agreement with the Nigerian Government to supply its `triple therapy drug cocktails' for the treatment of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) patients. Nigeria is to buy enough drugs to treat 10,000 patients per annum and at $350 per patient per annum, the order is worth $3.5 million and execution of the order is to commence within a month.

Earlier, Cipla had supplied the first lot of its triple therapy drug cocktails to Cambodia through a doctors' group - Medicines sans Frontiers (MSF) which is working in Africa and Southeast Asia for the treatment of acquired immuno deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Amar Lulla, joint managing director, Cipla, said, ``We are supplying the drugs cocktail at $350 per patient to Cambodia. Initially, the order is small and worth around $5,000 a month. We are currently in talks with governments in Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Algeria.''

MSF has just commenced a treatment project for 150 people with HIV in Cambodia and is to begin its projects in Guatemala in South America and Thailand.

In February, Cipla has offered to supply MSF the drugs at $350 per patient per annum and had offered the same cocktail to government at $600 per patient per annum. However, ``If we have a commitment from governments that they would supply the drugs free of cost to AIDS patients, Cipla will sell the drugs to them at cost price of $350 per patient per annum.'' said Mr. Lulla.

Besides, Cipla has also made an offer to a South African private sector firm for treatment of 20,000 patients at $350-500 per annum and negotiations are still on.

Cipla's combination includes two tablets of 40 mg of Stavudine, two tablets of 150 mg of Lamivudine and two tablets of 200 mg of Nevirapine. The company had dropped the price of its triple cocktail to Rs. 6,780 a month from the earlier rate of Rs. 11,400 that it was offering last March. The normal cost of the AIDS cocktail is $10,000-15,000 per patient per annum. Cipla's offer to sell the drugs to larger government programmes at $600 per patient per annum is about $400 below the price offered by companies that hold the patents for the drugs.

The anti-AIDS retroviral drugs market in India is dominated by Cipla. Other players to have announced a foray in the anti-AIDS segment are Zydus Cadila, Aurobindo Pharma, Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Hetero Drugs and Kopran.

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