A US group has accused generic drug makers in the developing world, including India's Cipla, of hyping claims about the costs and effectiveness of their products, a charge denied by health secretary Prasada Roa who said anti-retroviral manufactured by Indian companies are at par with those produced by multinationals.
As the International Aids Conference began in Bangkok, an unnamed US multinational drug maker issued a full-page advertisement in the English daily Bangkok Post against Cipla, which makes generic antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS.
Listing four points under separate comparison headings of 'hype' and 'truth', the advertisement claimed it was 'hype' that patented AIDS drugs cost more than 'copy' drugs, but the 'truth' was that "majority of innovator AIDS drugs are cheaper than copy drugs in the developing world for both single dose and fixed dose combination drugs."
Reacting to the advertisement, Rao, who is attending the conference, told reporters "ever since Cipla got into the field, drug prices crashed. Cipla offered them at one-tenth the price, the multinationals lost a lot of money".
On the advertisement's contention that WHO had de-listed two AIDS drugs - single dose Lamivudine 150 mg tablets and double dose Lamivudine plus Zidovudine 300 mg tablets from the pre-qualified list (made by Cipla) because they were not bio-equivalent, Rao said this had been "magnified".
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