GlaxoSmithKline grants fourth voluntary licence for ARVs

A South African generic drug manufacturer has been granted a voluntary licence to produce and sell some GlaxoSmithKline antiretroviral (ARV) medication. Under the terms of its agreement, Biotech, the fourth local company to receive a voluntary licence, will be able to supply ARVs to both the public and private markets throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The South African Press Agency (SAPA) quoted GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Gunther Faber as saying: "The granting of this licence to Biotech Laboratories will, we feel, help to ease the situation in some measure, and reflects GSK's long-standing and continuing commitment to improve access to medicines in developing countries - a commitment we are proud of and will maintain far into the future." Earlier this year GSK also granted a licence to a Kenyan company, Cosmos Limited, to supply, manufacture and sell ARV medication in Kenya and elsewhere in east Africa.