HIV drug policies and South markets: settling controversies

Despite progress, antiretroviral therapy coverage in low- and middle-income countries remains poor: only 31% of HIV-infected people in need were receiving treatment in 2007. Obstacles include weak healthcare systems, a critical shortage of human resources and a lack of sustainable, long-term funding. Considering that health spending is still less than US$10 per person per year in most African countries, these obstacles act as key barriers in preventing poor people from obtaining life-saving drugs. Under this backcloth, out-of-reach prices still prevent HIV-infected people in most income-constrained countries from accessing brand antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). In the meantime, evolutionary strategies by governments and generic companies in emerging South markets look like they would place a risk of failure on the ARVs pricing policies of the multinational brand corporations. This article explores an attuned model to allow the brand and generic manufacturers to appropriately tackle evolutionary trends in the ...