Bristol-Myers, Glaxo Expected to Cut AIDS Drugs P

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Bristol-Myers, Glaxo Expected to Cut AIDS Drugs' Prices in China

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BEIJING (Reuters) Dec 03 - Drug firms Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline are preparing to slash the prices of their AIDS drugs in China as the country faces up to the prospect of a major epidemic, industry sources said on Monday.



Bristol-Myers is drawing up formal documents to lower the price of its two antiretroviral drugs sold in China, Videx (didanosine) and Zerit (stavudine).



Price cuts would offer limited help to Chinese HIV patients, who largely rely on traditional Chinese medicine due to the high cost of highly active antiretroviral regimen, say local medical experts. The combination therapy generally costs a Chinese HIV patient between $9000 and $15,000 a year, depending on the combination of drugs used. Experts in China say that is a sum way beyond the means of most ordinary Chinese.



"Right now we are preparing our document for the voluntary drop of our price," Bristol-Myers Squibb China spokeswoman Che Fei told Reuters.



"The percentage drop is rather significant," Fei stated. "I cannot give you immediately the percentage as it is in the application process," she said, but added that it would be greater than 20% for both drugs.



Industry sources said that GlaxoSmithKline has been talking to the Chinese government about lowering the price of its AIDS drugs, though there are still a few outstanding issues to be resolved. "They are ready, but there are many things that still need to be sorted out," one source said on condition of anonymity.



Merck Sharp & Dohme (China) Ltd, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co, said on Friday that it would slash prices of two of its AIDS drugs sold in China by one-third this month, the official Xinhua news agency said.



Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck are the only foreign companies allowed to sell their AIDS drugs in China, Xinhua said.

medline

still too expensive.