A breakthrough pricing agreement will expand the availability of a more effective, affordable, single-pill HIV treatment to public sector purchasers — like GHSC-PSM — in low- and middle-income countries, helping to improve the lives of millions of people living with HIV.
Under this pricing agreement with Mylan Laboratories Limited and Aurobindo Pharma, regimens will cost about $75 per person per year, considerably less than the $80 to $90 paid for other regimens. Mylan Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma are the first two generic antiretroviral (ARV) manufacturers to receive tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the drug tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine, and dolutegravir (TLD).
The agreement is expected to accelerate efforts to reach all people living with HIV with high-quality antiretroviral therapy. Efforts like these are critical to reaching the global community’s 90-90-90 targets: By 2020, 90 percent of people living with HIV know their HIV status; 90 percent with a diagnosed HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviral therapy; and 90 percent receiving treatment experience viral suppression.
“To achieve the 90-90-90 treatment targets, newer, affordable and effective treatment options must be made available — from Baltimore to Bamako — without any delay,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. As of 2016, UNAIDS estimates that just over half (19.5 million) of people living with HIV have access to treatment.
Announced at the 72nd U.N. General Assembly, the agreement involved the governments of Kenya and South Africa as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Clinton Health Access Initiative; Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); United Kingdom’s Department for International Development; Unitaid; UNAIDS; and USAID with Mylan Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma.
Earlier this year, GHSC-PSM launched a TLD Task Force to work closely with country offices, USAID, and external partners to support a smooth transition from existing ARVs to TLD.
For more information, please see the press release and USAID’s announcement.
