WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- In the wake of the Thai government's claim that it would start making its own versions of several AIDS drugs, Merck announced lower prices.
The drug manufacturer said it will make its drug efavirenz, sold under the brand name Stocrin, available to poor countries and those with high HIV rates at a 14.5-percent discount.
The reduced price will be 65 cents per day, or $237.25 per patient per year, the company said Thursday.
In slightly wealthier countries with an HIV prevalence of less than 1 percent, the price will be reduced by 5.8 percent to $1.80 per day, or $657 per patient per year.
Earlier this week, the government of Thailand announced it was issuing "compulsory licenses" that would allow it to manufacture generic versions of 14 drugs, including efavirenz.
Merck, however, attributed the lower prices to increased efficiencies in the manufacturing process.
