On August 6, former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced agreements with two pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Matrix Laboratories Ltd, to lower the cost of drugs for patients with resistant strains of HIV and co-infection with tuberculosis (TB). The agreements are the works of the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, a project of the William J. Clinton Foundation, and will provide affordable treatment to hundreds of thousands of patients in less developed countries worldwide.

Clinton said to reporters, “Today’s announcement will help ensure we can sustain treatment over a lifetime and better treat patients with both HIV and TB, two key steps in turning the tide of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.”

Beginning in 2010, Matrix, a unit of U.S.-based Mylan Inc., will offer four antiretroviral drugs as a “second-line-in-a-box” package at an annual cost of $425, 28 percent lower than the current lowest-priced alternative. Second-line therapy is adopted when patients develop resistance to the first round of drugs, and half a million people are expected to require this type of treatment in the next three years.

The drugs include Reyataz (atazanavir), Norvir (ritonavir), Viread (tenofovir), and Epivir (lamivudine) and will also be available as a more convenient regimen. Instead of taking five or more pills twice a day, patients will take three pills once a day. In addition, the drug combination will include a heat-stable form of Norvir. Previously, Norvir required continuous refrigeration for its transport and distribution, which prevented its use in developing countries.

The other agreement with Pfizer will reduce the cost of the TB drug Mycobutin (rifabutin) to $1 per dose or $90 for the full six-month treatment, a 60 percent decrease from the current price. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over one-third of all HIV patients are also infected with tuberculosis, which is the leading cause of death among HIV-infected individuals.

WHO added Mycobutin to the Essential Medicines List in March 2009 due to its ability to be combined with second-line HIV therapy. Other tuberculosis medicines interact with protease inhibitors, the majority of second-line treatments. Doctors increase antiretroviral dosages to counteract these effects, consequently producing more severe side reactions. Reducing the cost of Mycobutin makes it more affordable to simultaneously treat TB and HIV.

These new products and prices will be available to more than 20 countries that are members of the Clinton Foundation’s Procurement Consortium across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Since 2002, the Clinton Foundation has worked with 25 countries to set up AIDS treatment and prevention programs and provide access to cheaper antiretroviral drugs in 70 countries. This work has provided two million patients with access to more affordable treatment. The recent agreements with Pfizer and Matrix will continue to expand Clinton’s initiative to fight the AIDS epidemic.

For more information, please read the Pfizer press release.