Cipla wins Rs 1,170-cr HIV drug deal

The anti-retrovirals drugs will be manufactured in Cipla's facilities in India

Mumbai-based drug maker Cipla has been awarded a $189-million (over Rs 1,170 crore) tender for antiretroviral drugs by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Cipla has been selected as a ‘panel supplier’ under a supplier partnership agreement. The contract is effective from January 1 and will run for three years. The supplies will begin from the fourth quarter of FY15.

The antiretroviral drugs, used in the treatment of AIDS  (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), will be made at Cipla’s manufacturing facilities in India.

Subhanu Saxena, managing director and global chief executive of Cipla, said: “Cipla has been committed to the cause of HIV/AIDS for over two decades and this tender offers us a great opportunity to make AIDS treatment accessible to more than 140 countries through The Global Fund.”

Cipla’s ties with The Global Fund date to 2002. Last year, Cipla was awarded a long-term contract to supply anti-malarial drugs.

The Global Fund, a partnership to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics, spends nearly $4 billion a year to support programmes in 140 countries.

Created in 2002, it operates as a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by the diseases.
MONEY AND DRUGS

• The antiretroviral drugs, used in the treatment of AIDS, will be made in Cipla’s facilities in India
• $4 bn a year The Global Fund, a partnership designed to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, spends to support programmes in 140 countries