ViiV Healthcare Access to ARVs

In the Least Developed Countries and sub-Saharan Africa GlaxoSmithKline has offered its HIV/AIDS medicines at not-for-profit (nfp) prices since 2001. ViiV Healthcare will maintain this commitment, and will include the additional products in its portfolio. All of ViiV Healthcare's ARVs are now available at not-for-profit prices to public sector customers and not-for-profit organizations in all Least Developed Countries and all of sub-Saharan Africa - 64 countries in total. In addition, all private employers in sub-Saharan Africa who provide care and treatment to their uninsured staff can purchase its ARVs at not-for-profit prices. All CCM projects fully funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and projects funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are also eligible bringing the number of countries accessing ViiV Healthcare nfp price to over 80. ViiV Healthcare's prices are sustainable - it does not make a profit on them, but it does cover its costs. This means that it can sustain supply of these high-quality products for as long as they are needed. ViiV Healthcare's not-for profit prices are applicable to orders of any size and are not dependent on large order quantities. They also include insurance and freight costs. Combivir, ViiV Healthcare's leading ARV, now sells at USD 197 per patient per year in the Least Developed Countries compared to USD 730 in 2001. During 2009, ViiV Healthcare supplied ARVs at not-for-profit prices to 21 countries, compared to 37 in 2008. ViiV Healthcare shipped 11.7 million tablets of not-for-profit Combivir and 21.0 million tablets of not-for-profit Epivir to the developing world in 2009 compared with 11.4 million and 58.6 million tablets respectively in 2008. This decrease was expected and is primarily due to more customers purchasing ARVs from generic manufacturers, including those licensed by ViiV Healthcare. In 2009, ViiV Healthcare licensees supplied more than 439 million tablets of their versions of Epivir and Combivir to Africa. These figures do not include syrup and capsule formulations. They are therefore conservative in giving an estimate of the ARV treatments shipped at preferential prices by ViiV Healthcare and ViiV Healthcare licensees. This a positive indication that ViiV Healthcare's licensing policy is working (see section on ARV Licensing in Developing Countries).