Vietnam Begins Production of Lower-Priced AIDS Drug

A Vietnamese company has begun producing a low-priced AIDS drug Lamzidivir, a combination of antiretrovirals Lamivudine and Zidovudine, under a government program aimed at making the drugs affordable for the growing number of poor AIDS patients, a National Anti-AIDS Committee official said Thursday. The drug will cost patients about $1,850 a year, about one-fourth to one-sixth the previous price, but still too expensive for many Vietnamese with AIDS, the committee official said.

The government has licensed four companies to produce AIDS drug tablets from medicines imported from countries such as India and South Korea, but so far only one company in southern Ho Chi Minh City is doing so, the official said. The government believes the Vietnamese companies are not violating any patents since they are just producing tablets from drug powder produced by the overseas companies, he said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the committee hopes the price of the tablets will come down further once other companies begin production. The committee is also proposing that the government promote use of traditional medicines to treat AIDS.

Each month, more than 1,000 Vietnamese test positive for HIV. An additional 9,024 people tested positive for HIV in the first seven months of this year, a 57 percent increase over the same period last year, according to state-controlled media. Total known infections in Vietnam stand at 52,434.

Back to other CDC news for August 22, 2002

Previous Updates