Roche to cut prices on anti-HIV drugs

Roche announced Tuesday that it will cut the prices on its protease inhibitors Viracept and Invirase by up to 33% for all countries that the World Bank defines as low- and middle-income, AFX News reports. The company will reduce the price on 270-pill packages of Viracept 250-milligram tablets and Invirase capsules from $240 to $160 in the countries, where about 85% of the world's HIV-positive people live. Roche in March announced it would no longer file patents for antiretroviral drugs or enforce existing patents in countries the United Nations has designated as least developed and said it wouldn't take legal action against generic drug manufacturers making cheaper versions of its anti-HIV drugs for sale in sub-Saharan Africa.