U.S. to speed approval of AIDS drugs By CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 3:20 PM ET May 16, 2004
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - In a significant policy shift, the U.S. government plans to expedite the approval of AIDS drugs in a move that will reduce prices in developing countries, according to a published report.
The Food and Drug Administration plans to propose new guidelines this week that would relax the approval process for products that combine several anti-HIV drugs, the Wall Journal reported Sunday on its Web site.
Combination pills would eliminate the need for patients to take multiple pills, the report said. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences and Merck & Co. are talking about developing a pill that would combine three anti-HIV drugs, according to the report.
"We are clearing the way to quickly deliver quality, lifesaving HIV/AIDS drugs to people who desperately need them in developing countries," the story quoted Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson as telling reporters at a Worlds Health Organization meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The World Health Organization is pushing to get cheaper HIV treatments to countries most affected in Africa and the Caribbean. |