India's biggest drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited today said the World Health Organistion has included four of its additional Anti Retro- Viral (ARV) products in its pre-qualification list.
The products approved by WHO are Efavirenz 600mg tablets, Efavirenz 200mg capsules, Stavudine 30mg capsules, Stavudine 40mg capsules, the company said in a statement."This is a significant development. We strongly feel that Generic ARVs are essential in the struggle against HIV/AIDS and are committed to providing high quality, cost effective generics," Ranbaxy CEO and MD Malvinder Mohan Singh said.
With these inclusions, Ranbaxy now has a total of 12 ARVs on the WHO pre-qualification list. It also has three approvals from USFDA for ARVs, making it eligible for supplying to the US funded PEPFAR programme.
"Efavirenz is rapidly becoming a preferred drug in HIV treatment programme in developing countries. The other newly listed drug, Stavudine, is also being widely used as a first line of therapy against AIDS. Both products increase customer choice enabling patients to access therapy easily, at affordable prices," Singh added.
Ranbaxy has been providing ARVs at affordable prices to countries and patients afflicted by HIV/AIDS since 2001.
Source:PTI News
