LONDON, April 1(Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline's AIDSdrugs business is to add one of its latest HIV medicines to apatent pool - cutting its future price for developing countriesand pooling intellectual property rights.
ViiV Healthcare, which is majority owned by the Britishdrugmaker, said the agreement covered dolutegravir, a newantiretroviral medicine, for use in both adults and childrenwith the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.
The move is a further victory for the new Medicines PatentPool (MPP), which is trying to convince major drugmakers aroundthe world to share rights to important medicines for developingcountries with makers of cheap generic drugs.
"Dolutegravir is an innovative HIV therapy, and we will beworking closely with generic manufacturers over the next fewyears to make it available to those most in need as quickly aspossible," the MPP's executive director Greg Perry said in astatement announcing the agreement.
ViiV's move comes just two months after the EuropeanMedicines Agency approved dolutegravir for adults andadolescents aged 12 to 18, and eight months after the U.S.Food and Drug Administration's approval of the drug.
Around 3.4 million children worldwide are infected with HIV,but less than a third of them have access to AIDS drugs.Treating HIV in children is challenging because many drugs arenot adapted for paediatric use.
ViiV - which is owned 76.5 percent by GSK, 13.5 percent byPfizer and 10 percent by Shionogi - only signed up tothe patent pool after lengthy negotiations.
Dominique Limet, ViiV's chief executive officer, said thedrugmaker now recognised how much difference new AIDS drugscould make in places where funds and healthcare resources arescarce, and said the deal on dolutegravir was part of ViiV's"ongoing commitment to improving access and deliveringinnovation in the areas of highest unmet need".
The MPP is a United Nations-backed group that was launchedin 2010 by the UNITAID health financing system, which is fundedby a levy on airline tickets. (Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)