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Millions of people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean will benefit from the development of a single-dose anti-AIDS drug, three major US pharmaceutical companies announced in a joint statement.
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, and Merck and Company said they were pursuing research that would combine three of their HIV medicines into a single tablet, to make treatment in developing countries both easier and cheaper.
The announcement was made at the same time as a pledge by the US to speed up the review process for such drugs.
"We are clearing the way to quickly deliver quality, life-saving HIV/AIDS drugs to people who desperately need them in developing countries," US Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson was quoted as saying by the South African Press Association.
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