aspen soars on news of AIDS-drug tender 
27 June 2008

The two-year contract is the backbone of the state’s free AIDS-drug programme, the world’s biggest. By April more than 478000 people had started treatment in the public sector. Aspen’s achievement underscores its strength as a supplier of generic medicines to the state. It secured contracts worth R2,1bn, almost 60% of the deal.

Aspen CEO Stephen Saad said. “We’re really pleased with what we’ve won. It’s beyond our expectations.”

Aspen won the sole supply contract for zidovudine, tenofovir and several formulations of nevirapine, lamivudine and stavudine. It won 80% of the contract for the most widely used formulations of lamivudine (150mg) and stavudine (30mg) and 30% of the deal for the most commonly prescribed dose of efavirenz (600mg).

The tender award highlights how rising competition in the AIDS drug market has driven down prices, enabling the government to give greater play to local pharmaceutical companies that have won licences to make cheaper copies of multinational pharmaceutical firms’ AIDS drugs.   AIDS Law Project attorney Jonathan Berger said the price of this formulation had halved since the first contract was announced three years ago, with local generic companies able to offer it to the government at R116 and R108 respectively. “The prices look very good,” he said.  “It’s quite a triumph for SA, because these products are completely homegrown,” he said.

The tender saw newcomer Sonke Pharmaceuticals gain a foothold, with contracts of R161m to supply formulations of didanosine, 20% of the 30mg stavudine and 20% of the 150mg lamivudine deals. Indian generic giant Ranbaxy owns 70% of Sonke’s shares, with the rest in black hands.

“It means the investments we’ve made in local manufacturing facilities has paid off,” said Sonke CEO Sotse Segoneco.

Cipla-Medpro, a division of Enaleni Pharmaceuticals, won R68m in contracts to provide 300mg lamivudine, and 20ml nevirapine syrup.  The only multinational firms awarded contracts at this stage are MSD and GlaxoSmithKline, which got the award to supply abacavir (for which there are no generic competitors) and a formulation of lamivudine combined with zidovudine.

It is understood the government is still negotiating with Abbott on Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir), for which there are no generic competitors.

Tamar Kahn,  www.businessday.co.za