Gilead Sciences has released further details of the access programme it announced last December, as reported here on aidsmap.
For all of Africa and 15 additional "least developed countries" tenofovir (Viread) will be priced at US $39 for a month's supply, or $1.30 per day. This is around one tenth of the price set for the USA and Western Europe, and according to the company covers only their production and distribution costs.
To prevent diversion or resale of low-cost drugs into other markets, as reported in the case of some other international companies' products, the low-cost drug will be provided in tablets of a distinctive colour. The drug will in all other respects be identical.
Treatment programmes based in the countries concerned - whether in the public or the private sector - can apply to buy tenofovir online, or by mail, fax or email. Gilead will supply the drug directly, to cut out distributor costs and delays. When used for treatment, tenofovir must be combined with other ARVs.
Complete information, including request forms, is available at a special company website, www.gileadaccess.org.
For those who do not have internet access, there are phone numbers in the USA: +1-800-445 3235 or +1-650 574 3000 and in Uganda: +256-41-340 806.
Gilead recognises that even at this concessionary price, few people with HIV will be able to afford their product. The company is therefore reported to be in discussion with international agencies including the World Health Organization and William J Clinton Foundation to seek partnerships to subsidise access further.
In addition to this access scheme, Gilead is supporting research in Africa which is investigating the use of tenofovir for treatment and prevention. Tenofovir with Combivir (AZT + 3TC) is being studied in the 3,000 patient DART Study, funded by the UK's Medical Research Council, now underway in Uganda and Zimbabwe. As previously discussed here, here and here, tenofovir is to be studied as a single agent to prevent HIV infection in a multinational study organised by Family Health International and funded by the Gates Foundation.
A further announcement is awaited later, on a concessionary pricing scheme for access to tenofovir in middle-income countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe and other parts of the world.