An Open Competition Model for Regional Price Negotiations Yields Lowest ARV Prices in the Americas

The shift from a country by country approach in price negotiations to a sub-regional approach has resulted in a rapid decrease in HIV/AIDS Antiretroviral (ARV) prices in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through the regional Accelerated Access Initiative in the Caribbean and Central America, ARV costs have been reduced to US$ 1,100 – US$ 1,600 per year per patient. The development however of an open competition based model for regional price negotiations by ten other Latin American countries (June 2003) has yielded the most significant reductions in the region, with costs reduced from US$ 5,000 to US$ 400 per patient per year through the source selection of prequalified generics.