Cipla


WHO Prequalification Status of Cipla's Lamivudine and Zidovudine

Cipla's Request for Compulsory Licenses in South Africa

On March 7, 2001, Cipla formally requested the South African Department of Trade and Industry to issue compulsory licenses to patents on the following HIV drugs: nevirapine, lamivudine, zidovudine, stavudine, didanosine, efavirenz, indinavir and abacavir. In May, Cipla South Africa announced plans to further request a compulsory license, hoping to manufacture certain drugs locally. See the Business Report Story.

Cipla Offers to Provide Low-Cost Triple-Combination Therapy for HIV/AIDS

Indian generic drug manufacturer Cipla has offered to supply triple-combination therapy for HIV/AIDS for $350 per patient per year to Medicins San Frontieres. It has also offered to sell the therapy for $600 per patient per year to poor governments, on the condition that the recipient governments provide the drugs for free to those with HIV/AIDS. The cocktail consists of two 40 milligram tablets of stavudine, two 150 milligram tablets of lamivudine and two 200 milligram tablets of nevirapine. (Since making the initial offer, it has dropped the price for some poor governments.) Other Indian generic competitors, including Hetero and Ranbaxy have also offered lower prices on generic ARVs. The cost of this regimen in developed nations is $10,000- $15,000 annually.

HOME PAGE FOR CIPLA

Statements and Responses to the Offer

News Stories
Cipla's Request for Voluntary Licenses for specific HIV/AIDS Drugs

On Decmber 19, 2000, Cipla requested voluntary licenses for six HIV/AIDS drugs (lamivudine, zidovudine, fluconazole, stavudine, didanosine, nevirapine) from the companies that currently claim IP rights over them. On February 9, 2001, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer responded by requesting more time to consider the offer.

Past Correspondences with GlaxoWellcome Regarding AZT and 3TC

Last year, GlaxoWellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) wrote Cipla to assert their intellectual property rights for medicines containing zidovudine (AZT) and lamivudine (3TC) in Ghana and Uganda. Cipla had been exporting its product Duovir, a combination of zidovudine and lamivudine into these countries.

Cipla's Offer to Donate Nevirapine to Combat Maternal HIV Transmitions

Misc.


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