Caroline Chen
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has signed a broad agreement with Medicines Patent Pool, allowing the United Nations-backed organization to distribute licenses for generic-drug companies to copy its hepatitis C treatment in more than 100 developing and middle-income nations.
The agreement allows the generics makers to produce copies of the drug Daklinza, known chemically as daclatasvir, without paying any royalties, Medicines Patent Pool said in a statement Monday. The liver ailment is a new treatment area for the organization, which has helped developing nations gain access to HIV medicines.Continue reading....
Bristol-Myers signs deal with UN group for generic hep C drug
Source: Reuters - Mon, 23 Nov 2015 14:19 GMT
Nov 23 (Reuters) - A United Nations-backed organization working to cut the price of HIV drugs said it had signed a deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co to allow generic versions of the company's hepatitis C drug to be sold in 112 low- and middle-income countries.
The drug, Daklinza, is on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines.
Hepatitis C affects about 150 million people globally and kills around half a million each year, the World Health Organisation estimates.
The Medicines Patent Pool said on Monday that Daklinza would now be available to nearly two-thirds of people affected by the disease in low- and middle-income countries.
The list price in the United States for Daklinza is $63,000 for a 12-week regimen, or about $750 per day at wholesale costs, according to pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts.
Other drugs used to treat hepatitis C include Gilead Sciences' Sovaldi. A single Sovaldi pill costs $1,000 in the United States, according to Express Scripts.
The deal with Bristol-Myers allows drugmakers anywhere in the world to develop generic versions of Daklinza.
The Medicines Patent Pool had earlier signed a deal with Bristol-Myers for generic versions of its HIV treatment Reyataz. (Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)
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