ADAPs, NASTAD negotiate drug price freezes

State AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors have negotiated a series of price freezes and rebates on anti-HIV medications from drugmakers Gilead Sciences, Abbott Laboratories, and Merck. The negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies began in April and were lead by NASTAD and officials from ADAPs in California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. Those eight programs account for 75% of the $850 million spent annually on ADAP medications. In March the ADAP officials reached an agreement with officials from Roche and Trimeris for price cuts on the companies' newly approved HIV fusion inhibitor Fuzeon. Savings secured from agreements with Gilead, Abbott, Merck, and Roche and Trimeris are expected to total about $25 million annually. Negotiations are continuing with Pfizer/Agouron, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Boehringer Ingelheim. "We remain hopeful that significant agreements can be completed with the remaining manufacturers," said NASTAD executive director Julie Scofield. "They account for over half the expenditures and need to be a part of the response to the crisis we face."