Chinese Government to Eliminate Duties and Value-Added Taxes on Imported AIDS Drugs

The Chinese government is expected to eliminate the duties and value-added taxes on imported AIDS drugs, a move that would cut the cost of treatment for HIV-positive individuals, the South China Morning Post reports. The impending removal of the taxes and duties is expected to lower the annual cost of antiretroviral therapy by $1,209, but the reduced price of treatment would still be too high for most HIV-positive Chinese people. The Morning Post reports that the abolition of the taxes is expected to have a "minimal" impact on treatment access and that a "far greater" effect on access to drugs will be brought about by the recent agreements allowing domestic production of generic AIDS drugs in China (South China Morning Post, 10/15). Shanghai Desano Biopharmaceutical announced last month that it had received permission from the Chinese government to domestically produce and market didanosine and stavudine, both of which are patented by U.S.-based drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb. The Chinese government has also granted a license for a generic version of zidovudine to another Chinese company (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 9/26).