Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced that the company will extend its relief efforts for two more years to the state-administered AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) to help address the funding crisis the programs face. Bristol-Myers Squibb has provided, and will continue to provide, millions of dollars in relief to ADAPs during the next two years by supplying the company's complete line of HIV medications and other select products at a reduced cost. This extension will help ensure thousands of low-income, underinsured and uninsured people living with HIV/AIDS maintain access to life-saving antiretroviral medications.

"Bristol-Myers Squibb is committed to ensuring people living with HIV/AIDS have access to the medicines they need," said Ron Cooper, senior vice president, Bristol-Myers Squibb Virology. "To reinforce this commitment, we are extending our agreement with the ADAPs to help reach that goal."

ADAPs are not entitlement programs (that is, a patient who meets eligibility criteria is not guaranteed benefits) and, as a result, reduced state and federal appropriations coupled with growing program demands, have led to program restrictions and waiting lists for medicines. With 20 to 25 per cent of all HIV medications currently purchased through state ADAPs and the number growing, finding long-term solutions to the funding crisis is critical.

Through this extension, Bristol-Myers Squibb will continue to provide its entire portfolio of HIV medications at a reduced cost to ADAPs through March 2007. This assistance will provide states the opportunity to access the company's once-daily therapies used in combination treatment including Reyataz (atazanavir sulfate) (100 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg), the first once-daily protease inhibitor, and Sustiva (efavirenz) (50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, 600 mg), the only non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor to be recommended as part of a "preferred regimen" for the initial treatment of HIV by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has worked to be a catalyst for change in the lives of people with HIV/AIDS through a wide range of programs. Through the Patient Assistance Program, the company provides free medications to low-income individuals who do not qualify for prescription drug assistance through public or private sources including ADAPs and Medicaid. This program serves as a final safety net for patients with no means to access medicine.

Internationally, Bristol-Myers Squibb also has several initiatives including SECURE THE FUTURE, a five-year, $120 million commitment to help develop local, sustainable programs to address the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS among women and children in sub-Saharan and West African nations.