Former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced here Tuesday that two Indian generic drug manufacturers have agreed to significantly cut the prices of 16 formulations of second-line AIDS drugs in the developing world.(File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced here Tuesday that two Indian generic drug manufacturers have agreed to significantly cut the prices of 16 formulations of second-line AIDS drugs in the developing world.

    Clinton, who heads the William J. Clinton Foundation, said the Indian firms, Cipla and Matrix, will also make available a new, once-a-day AIDS pill, which is currently cost prohibitive in developing countries, at lower prices in more than 60 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

    "Seven million people in the developing world are in need of treatment of HIV/AIDS," Clinton said. "We are trying to meet that need with the best medicine available today, and at prices that low and middle income countries can afford."

    He praised Cipla and Matrix for their "commitment to lower the cost of new drugs at the forefront of the fight against AIDS, and thanked UNITAID, an international drug purchase facility established in 2006 by France, Brazil, Chile, Norway and Britain, for its funding that has contributed to the availability of such drugs.

    UNITAID will provide the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative with over 100 million U.S. dollars to purchase second-line medicines for 27 countries through 2008.

    The Clinton Foundation negotiated new prices for second-line drugs that will generate an average savings of 25 percent in low-income countries and 50 percent in middle-income countries, the foundation said in a press release.

    Second-line treatment, which involves anti-retroviral drugs, is required in patients who develop resistance to first-line treatment and currently costs 10 times the price of first-line therapy.

    Clinton also announced a lower price for the "next generation" first-line treatment, a once-daily pill that combines the drugs tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz.

    The equivalent product in the United States was launched in July last year. It offers greater convenience, few side effects and better treatment outcomes in comparison to the regimen used most commonly in developing countries, the foundation said.

    The new cost for this treatment of 339 U.S. dollars per patient per year, or less than 1 dollar a day, will be 45 percent lower than the current rate in low-income countries and 67 percent lower in many middle-income countries.

    Since 2002, the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative has helped countries implement large-scale, integrated care, treatment and prevention programs. It provides access to reduced prices for HIV/AIDS drugs and diagnostics to a total of 66 countries, which together represent more than 90 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries.