The latest clash over the cost of a prescription medicine is playing out in Colombia, where the government is exploring the possibility of issuing a compulsory license for a needed HIV treatment — a move that would spark another battle with the pharmaceutical industry.
Last month, Colombian Health Minister Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo issued a resolution to examine whether the government should pursue a license to obtain lower-cost generic versions of an HIV medicine called dolutegravir made by ViiV Healthcare, which is largely controlled by GSK. The drug is known commercially as Tivicay, or as Dovato when combined with other medicines.
The resolution noted the cost for a month’s supply of the highest strength of the drug is approximately $100, or about 50 times what the Pan-American Health Organization pays for generic versions. Moreover, the number of HIV cases in Colombia grew 31% last year, rising to 18,410, not including cases attributed to people fleeing instability in neighboring Venezuela.