NEWS
IN BRIEF

WHO drops two generic AIDS drugs

WHO has removed two antiretroviral products from its list of approved AIDS drugs used to treat people with the disease in developing countries. The decision followed a routine inspection in May which found that the manufacturer — the Indian company Cipla — could not provide evidence that lamivudine and zidovudine were biologically equivalent to their patented counterparts. Since then, four new AIDS medicines have been added to the prequalification list, including lamivudine from a newly prequalified generic manufacturer. This drug represents an alternative to the delisted Cipla version.