Ranbaxy wins WHO approval for three HIV drugs

India-based Ranbaxy has revealed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has included the company's three HIV treatments in its pre-qualification list.

Ranbaxy says it now has 15 Anti Retroviral products (ARVs) in WHO's pre-qualification list, consisting of single and fixed dose combination products. The products are manufactured at the company's accredited sites in India.

The newly included ARVs are presented in compliance kit packs and are designed to enhance patient compliance for medication and are the latest additions to the WHO list.

The compliance packs contain two fixed dose combination tablets of lamivudine or zidovudine or Stavudine, with a single tablet of efavirenz. Of these, lamivudine or stavudine and efavirenz formulations are the first by any company on the WHO list, said Ranbaxy.

Ranbaxy has already filed a range of ARVs for FDA approval and has begun receiving tentative approvals from the US Federal agency under the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programme.

On 10 September, Ranbaxy's shares traded 1.3 per cent up at INR 415.30 on the Mumbai Stock Exchange.