Hetero slashes AIDS drug prices by 17-50 per cent

Our Corporate Bureau

Mumbai, July 17: The price war in the domestic AIDS drugs market rages on. The Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs, on Tuesday, announced price cuts ranging from 17.24 per cent to a whopping 50 per cent across its AIDS drugs portfolio. Hetero’s move to slash prices comes close on the heels of Cipla’s price cut, averaging roughly 33 per cent, in the domestic anti-AIDS drugs segment.

Hetero director (business development) Mr Dharmesh Shah said the price cuts were possible due to technological improvements and increased production volumes. Hetero has undercut Cipla in the nevirapine segment, though Cipla’s prices are competitive in certain other segments.

Hetero’s lamivudine 150 mg will now be priced at Rs 720 per bottle, a 31.42 per cent reduction, while lamivudine 150 mg plus zidovudine 300 mg would now be priced at Rs 1,683 per bottle (a reduction of over 25 per cent). Prices of the company’s nevirapine brand have been slashed by 50 per cent to Rs 900 per bottle.