Clinton Foundation Announces Deal on AIDS Drugs

To coincide with World AIDS Day, the Clinton Foundation has announced a deal that could reduce the price of HIV treatments for children by more than 80 percent next year, reports The New York Times.

The foundation brokered an agreement with two generic-drug manufacturers in India, which will provide a year’s supply of anti-retroviral drugs for children at $60, half of the current lowest cost. The number of countries with access to cheap drugs will expand, meaning the savings could be much greater than 50 percent.

The deal—supported by $35-million from Unitaid, a multi-country drug-purchasing coalition, and $15-million from the Clinton Foundation—also provides money for clinics and pediatric wards. It focuses on children for both humanitarian reasons and because traditional drug treatments are usually aimed at adults.

However, because India will tighten its intellectual-property laws over the next few years, the benefits of the drugs, based on patented compounds, could be temporary.

Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s coverage of AIDS drugs in the developing world.

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