Cost of AIDS drugs set to come down

March 6, 2002

The Economic Times March 5, 2002

The average daily cost of treatment of AIDS is set to come down by 35-40 per

cent, with leading anti-AIDS drugs manufacturers such as Cipla, Ranbaxy,

GlaxoKline and Zydus Cadila are planning to slash the prices of their

anti-AIDS drugs matching with the excise duty exemption announced in the budget.

Industry sources said these companies are at present waiting for the details of

the budget announcement, mainly the list of anti-AIDS drugs which have been

exempted from excise duty before taking a final decision on the price cut.

Daily cost to be Rs 60-65

Industry sources said the average cost of daily treatment of AIDS is currently

in the region of Rs 100. This is likely to come down to Rs 60-65, with the

prices of various drugs used for AIDS treatment are set to come down following

the excise duty exemption.

" We will definitely pass on the excise duty relief to the customers. At present

we are waiting for the list of drugs (used for treatment of AIDS) which have

been exempted from excise duty and once the have the details we will implement

the price reduction, " a senior executive of Ranbaxy said.

The 15 per cent cut in customs duty on some select anti-cancer drugs, however,

is not expected to make any impact on the prices of drugs in this segment.

Industry sources said import of anti-cancer drugs account for just a fraction of

the total domestic anti-cancer drugs segment and a cut in their import duty is

not likely to make any impact on drug prices in this segment.

Sources said generally a cocktail of drugs are used for the treatment of AIDS.

Besides the AIDS-specific therapeutic drugs, some of the anti-viral drugs are

also administered to HIV patients.

" The exact reduction in the daily cost of AIDS treatment will depend on which

all drugs used for the treatment of AIDS is exempted, " a senior executive with

another drug major said.

Cipla is currently the leader in anti-AIDS drugs segment, accounting for almost

50 per cent market share. The other major players are Ranbaxy, Glaxokline,

Aurobindo Pharma and Zydus Cadila. The total market size is estimated to be

about Rs 50 crore.

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Dr.Jagdish Harsh ( jharsh@... )

Director of Administration and Operations

François-Xavier Bagnoud (INDIA) ( www.fxb.org )

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