The company now issues short, non-assert declarations which can be given to all generic producers worldwide, prequalified by the WHO, and are free of license fees or other charges.
Boehringer Ingelheim has also introduced a lower preferential price for original Viramune of $0.60, cutting the costs for Viramune in half compared to the former preferential price. Middle income countries, such Brazil and Thailand, will receive a 90% discount on the price for the treatment in highly industrialized countries, at $1.20 per day.
Dr Alessandro Banchi, chairman of Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “Preferential pricing is the only way how we can meet both conflicting needs in the fight against AIDS: we can refinance our high R&D costs for innovative, new treatments by the established price system in industrialized countries and can offer affordable medicines to patients in poor countries that otherwise cannot afford antiretroviral medication. The patent situation will not stand in the way of poor people who need our medication.”
Drug companies that have failed to negotiate a low enough price with some governments have seen their drugs subject to compulsory licenses. Brazil recently issued a compulsory license for Merck’s Sustiva (efavirenz) after price negotiations over the HIV drug broke down, and will now be able to buy generic versions of the drug.