Clinton Brokers Deal To Lower Costs of AIDS Drugs in Third World

President Clinton yesterday brokered a deal with generic drug companies that will lower the price of AIDS medicines for 66 developing countries.

The cost-cutting agreement is the result of lengthy negotiations between the Clinton Foundation and two Indian drug manufacturers: Cipla and Matrix Laboratories.

Under the new contract, the cost of second-line drugs, required for patients who develop viral resistance, will fall by 25% in low-income countries and by 50% in middle-income countries. Additionally, a once-daily pill that was previously cost prohibitive will now be available for less than $1 a day.

Since the AIDS virus was first identified 25 years ago, it has killed roughly 25 million people globally. Mr. Clinton noted that 7 million people in the developing world need treatment for HIV/AIDS, and that nearly a half million patients will require second-line drugs by 2010.

The Clinton Foundation has obtained $100 million in funding to buy the newly affordable medications from Unitaid, an international drug purchase facility established last year by France, Britain, Brazil, Chile, and Norway. In a statement, the French foreign minister and chairman of the Unitaid board, Philippe Douste-Blazy, said yesterday's agreement symbolizes "a more equitable, socially responsible globalization."