[Ip-health] Re: Access to medicine in developing countries -- hoping for change

[Joe Thomas]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Dear IP Health FORUM,

  A footnote on James Love=92s article.

  One of the significant contribution- but, largely unknown contribution of=
 James Love  is his role in negotiating for generic ARV medications- on beh=
alf of MSF- with CIPLA in Mumbai and achieving that path breaking deal in l=
ate 2000.

  The Indian drug company Cipla=92s officer to sell an AIDS cocktail that c=
osts $10,000 a year per patient to MSF for only $350 revolutionized the tre=
atment of HIV patients in developing countries. Cipla sold three drug, anti=
-retroviral cocktail to 'MSF (Doctors without Borders)', a Paris-based medi=
cal aid agency, with a condition that, the cocktail ARV drugs will be sold =
to them at the discounted price as long as they agree to distribute the dru=
g for free.  Similar drug cocktails were then selling  for between $10,000 =
and
$15,000 per patient, per year in the United States and Europe.

  Mr. James Love visited Mumbai in December 2000 and met with Dr. Hamid to =
broker this deal.





              ____________________
Dr. Joe Thomas, MSc. Ph.D

  Editor,  [AIDS INDIA eFORUM]  &  [AIDS ASIA eFORUM]
  Connecting key HIV & AIDS stakeholders in Asia and the Pacific
  http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS-INDIA/
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/