Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced a new agreement to expand access to Reyataz (atazanavir sulfate). The immunity-from-suit agreement signed with Matrix Laboratories Limited, a Mylan Company, enables the generic company to manufacture and sell atazanavir, as well as stavudine and didanosine, in sub-Saharan Africa and India.

“The HIV treatment landscape has changed dramatically since 2001, when we first began our Global Access Programme to help expand the availability of low-cost HIV medicines in the developing world,” said Frank Pasqualone, president, Intercontinental Region, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “Atazanavir is an important component of HIV combination therapy and this agreement facilitates broader availability of the medicine to help ensure patients can access appropriate treatment regimens.”

The immunity-from-suit agreement with Matrix Laboratories is the fifteenth agreement that Bristol-Myers Squibb has signed for its HIV medicines, and the fourth for atazanavir. A key component of the agreement is the inclusion of paediatric formulations of the medicines to support the treatment needs of children with HIV. Under the terms of the agreement, Matrix Laboratories will secure World Health Organization (WHO) pre-qualification for all products covered by the agreement, including paediatric formulations of didanosine and, in the future, atazanavir powder formulation for paediatric use when Bristol-Myers Squibb’s product is available. WHO pre-qualification enables procurement organizations to purchase medicines using funding from United Nations agencies and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The goal of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Global Access Programme is to enable broad access to the company’s HIV medicines in impoverished regions most severely impacted by HIV. The Global Access Programme is based on three essential pillars of activity and policy: no-profit pricing in more than 60 sub-Saharan African and low income countries and tiered pricing in middle-income countries, patent policy, which enables generic participation in expanding access to HIV medicines through immunity-from-suit agreements, and working with others committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS through partnerships.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases.