Mexico To Allow Drug Companies To Make, Sell Generic Antiretrovirals In Country, President Calderon Announces

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 06 Aug 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Sunday at the opening ceremony of the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City announced that he would lift restrictions on foreign pharmaceutical companies to allow them to produce and sell generic antiretroviral drugs in Mexico, NPR's "Morning Edition" reports (Beaubien, "Morning Edition," NPR, 8/4).

Calderon lifted a regulation by the Mexican Ministry of Economy that required drugmakers operating in Mexico to have a manufacturing plant in the country in order to sell generic versions of their drugs, including antiretrovirals, according to an AIDS Healthcare Foundation release. The announcement is "tremendous news" for Mexicans living with HIV/AIDS and other diseases, Patricia Campos, Latin America bureau chief for AHF, said (AHF release, 8/3).

Calderon recently announced that he would establish a commission to help negotiate the price of drugs and work to achieve fairer prices to help HIV-positive people receive treatment. Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova recently said that Merck has agreed to sell two antiretroviral drugs, Stocrin and Isentress, at a reduced price in the country (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/4).

Kaisernetwork.org is the official webcaster of the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Click here to sign up for your Daily Update e-mail during the conference. A webcast of the opening session is available online at kaisernetwork.org.

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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