On February 19, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest producers of HIV medications, announced that it is cutting the prices of 14 antiretroviral drugs sold in developing countries, the Wall Street Journalreports (blogs.wsj.com, 2/19). According to the Journal, this is the company’s fifth price rollback since 1997.
Prices of the 14 drugs will drop by an average of 21 percent, according to GlaxoSmithKline, due to the availability of cheaper ingredients and improvements in manufacturing.
The biggest price cut will be in a drug called Ziagen, the liquid form of which is recommended by the World Health Organization for use in children. The price of Ziagen will drop by 40 percent to cost $15.08 per pack, or 50 cents a day. The company’s most expensive HIV drug, Lexiva, will drop in price by 20 percent, to a new cost of $3.35 a day.
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Previous Comments:
comments 1 - 4 (of 4 total)
mb, , 2008-02-26 08:56:15
Others should do the same but also Drop the Prices here in the U.S.A. What's good for some Geese is good for the entire Gander
John, Houston, 2008-02-21 20:35:17
Why do they not salso drop the prices in the US? How about dropping the price on all of their HIV medications?
Mark, Maryville, 2008-02-21 09:15:46
I wonder why GSK can not drop the prices here in the USA? I guess that they are under the assumption that everyone in the USA can afford OVER PRICED Anti-virals.
Alfredo, Baltimore, 2008-02-20 22:33:49
GSK should be commended for lowering their prices. Obviously, this will impact lives in developing countries in positive way. Hopefully, other pharmaceutical companies will take GSK's lead. Kudos to GSK! I reccomend people write GSK execs and thank them for this humanitarian measure.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
