Glaxo Grants License for AIDS Drugs in S. Africa

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has granted a generic drug manufacturer a license to produce and market three key AIDS medicines in South Africa, a Glaxo official said Sunday.

Under the deal, to be officially announced today, the South African company Aspen Pharmacare will be allowed to sell its versions of the widely used AIDS drugs AZT, 3TC and Combivir to the public health system and to nonprofit groups in South Africa, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The issue of access to AIDS medication has grown since more than three dozen drug companies, including Glaxo, sued South Africa’s government over a law many said would let it import or produce generic versions of the drugs over the companies’ objections.

The companies dropped the suit in April under public pressure.

Many of the firms making the top AIDS medicines announced plans to sell the drugs at or below cost to the developing world.

Before the agreement with Aspen, Glaxo was offering its AIDS drugs to South Africa’s public health system at cost--about $2 a day for Combivir, a combination of 3TC and AZT.

However, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that even at that price, providing the AIDS drugs through the public health system would bankrupt the health department.

An estimated 4.7 million South Africans--about 11% of the population--are HIV-positive.