The Generic HIV/AIDS Market
Friday, November 13th, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed
Generic drugs are chemical equivalents of name-brand drugs whose patent have expired. generic medications are exactly the same as their branded counterparts in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use. The noticeable difference between the two is the price. HIV causes AIDS if proper treatment won’t be administered after the infection. Presently, AIDS is now the world’s leading cause of death infectious death among adult. In the early 1980s when the HIV/AIDS epidemic began, people with AIDS were not likely to live longer than a few years. With the development of safe and effective drugs, however, people infected with HIV now have longer and healthier lives.
HIV is one member of the group of viruses known as retroviruses. Retroviruses are unique in that they reproduce by transcribing themselves into DNA. Reverse transcriptase, an enzyme within a retrovi rus, enables the retrovirus’ RNA to perform as a template of sorts for the transcription process. Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been successful in suppressing plasma HIV RNA levels and providing significant clinical benefit in infected patients, it does not eradicate HIV infection. In addition, the monetary cost of HAART is prohibitive for many individuals and countries. In terms of cost, 95% of the HIVpositive individuals in the world don’t have access to the therapy as a direct consequence of the cost of therapy. These observations has led vari ous organization and activist group to put pressure on the concerned groups to lower the cost of HIV medications.
Antiretroviral treatment inarguably slows down the onset of AIDS. During the early years of the discovery of ARV the cost is too high that only available in rich and developed countries. However, antiretroviral treatments has been the tool in the dramatic decrease of deaths caused by HIV infections. Within four years a notable 84% of death rates caused by HIV/AIDS in developed countries had dropped..Notably, access to HIV drugs had increased significantly in the end of 2003. The emergence of HIV generic drugs have directly made a significant impact on the cost of the treatment. The time it takes a generic drug to appear on the market varies. In the US, drug patents give twenty years of protection, but they are applied for before clinical trials begin, so the effective life of a drug patent tends to be between seven and twelve years. The principal reason for the relatively low price of generic drugs is the brewing competition among manufactures when drugs no longer are protected by patents. Companies incur fewer costs in creating the generic drug, and are therefore able to maintain profitability at a lower cost to consumers. HIV generic medicines is as effective as the brand-name medicines as the Food and Drugs Administration applies the same standard for all drug manufacturing facilities.
Generic antiretrovirals are now commonly used for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in the developing world. They have been integrated into manytreatment programmes including PEPFAR - the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. PEPFAR, the single greatest supporter of treatment provision for AIDS in the developing world, began to distribute generic drugs through its programmes in 2004-5. In 2007, generics accounted for 57% of the $131 million PEPFAR spent on anti-AIDS drugs. Generic HIV medication has played a vital role in the distribution of HIV treatment in the developing world and in its prevention. Hence, generic drugs affordability and accessibility to the developing countries cannot be underestimated. Let me quote Stephen Lewis, former UN Special Envoy for AIDS/HIV in Africa, said: ‘…we wouldn’t have this extraordinary run of treatment in Africa now if it weren’t for the generic drugs.’
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