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LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - China will receive cut-pricesupplies of GlaxoSmithKline's new HIV drug Tivicay,following a deal for Shanghai-based Desano Pharmaceuticals tobecome an additional manufacturer of the medicine's activeingredient.
The collaboration between GSK's HIV unit ViiV Healthcare andDesano marks an improvement in the business climate for theBritish drugmaker, which was fined a record 3 billion yuan ($484 million) in September for bribing Chinese doctors.
At the time, GSK promised to boost access to its medicinesin the country by expanding local production and adoptingflexible pricing. However, a ViiV spokesman said thenegotiations with Desano predated this commitment.
Under the agreement announced by ViiV on Thursday, Desanowill manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredient forTivicay, or dolutegravir, to feed into the GSK/ViiV supply chainfor onward sale in China and other developing countries.
ViiV said the move would allow it to offer a "competitive"supply of finished product, without specifying the scale ofprice discount. The spokesman said the drug's price in Chinawould be in line with that charged in poor countries.
($1 = 6.2008 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Mark Potter)
