KIGALI - Rwanda may soon import 15.6 million pills of a new HIV/Aids drug, Apo-TriAvir, from Canada, The New Times has learnt.

Apo-TriAvir is the latest antiretroviral drug on the market and is a combination of 300mg of Zidovudine, 150mg of Lamivudine and 200mg Nevirapine.

The medicine is manufactured by Apotex Inc., the largest Canadian pharmaceutical company and it has a pre-qualification status by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Apotex claims that it bid and was awarded a tender of supplying the life saving triple combination AIDS drug to Rwanda.

According to a press statement posted on Apotex’s website (www.apotex.com) Rwanda accepted- after an international competitive process- Apotex’s bid to supply them with Apo-TriAvir, a fixed-dose combination anti-AIDS drug.

Apotex anticipates sending the first shipment by October.

It also claims that it is the first company to provide this medicine to Africa under the provisions of the Canadian Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR).

CAMR provides a mechanism for developing countries to address critical healthcare needs by importing less expensive generic versions of patented drugs.

Apotex also states in its press statement that the three separate AIDS brand products would cost around $6.00 (Approx. Frw 3,000) per dose if bought individually.

Meanwhile, when contacted, the Minister of Health Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo distanced himself from the development saying that he had no idea about it.

"I have been contacted several times by different media companies about the same issue but I am not aware of the bidding and awarding of tenders. "We once discussed with Apotex about their products but we have not decided on taking a further step; I have also contacted my partner in different medical institutions but they all don’t know about it," said the seeming surprised minister. However, the Managing Director and head task force for HIV/Aids in TRAC Plus, Dr. Anita Asiimwe deferred with the minister and confirmed that several international medical companies applied to supply the medicine and Apotex won the tender.

She said that Rwanda developed the interest in the medicine not because of its cost but because of its quality.

"We normally supply the medicine in three different types and this new medicine combines the three at once that is the reason we are interested in this is triple combination AIDS drug," said Asiimwe.

She also said that the medicine would be supplied like other antiretroviral in health centres, and hospitals.

Asked how TracPlus works with the Ministry of Health since the Minister was not informed about the developments, Asiimwe said: "I have no answer to that, TracPlus is a unit and the Ministry of Health there is nothing we can do without the endorsement of the ministry.

When asked about the cost of the yet to be purchased medicine, Assimwe referred this reporter to Rwanda Medical Stores (CAMERWA) that deals with the procurement.

When contacted yesterday evening, the Director of CAMERWA, Amb. Zephyr Mutanguha said that he was not in his office to provide the technical information but also confirmed the order but said that the purchase was yet to be done.

Also, Media reports quote Apotex Director of Public and Government Affairs, Elie Betito, saying that the medicine would be supplied to at least 260,000 Rwandans.

Betito issued a press release last week stating that Rwanda has come forward and stated its intention to buy the medication, and that Apotex would get permission from two companies, Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. and GlaxoSmithKline Inc, which make the drugs used in Apo-TriAvir, to move forward and export the drugs to Rwanda.

In a related development, Canadian leading newspaper reported yesterday that Ian Mills, president and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd., sent a letter to Apotex allowing them to proceed. But, GlaxoSmithKline’s Leanne Kitchen-Clarke, director of corporate communications and stakeholder relations, said that GlaxoSmithKline is working diligently on its response.

The star also quotes the Deputy Director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network Richard Elliott, saying that Rwanda’s intention to use the Access to Medicines Regime was an important first step.

"We are being cautious in our optimism," he said.

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