Matrix Laboratories Ltd., a subsidiary of Mylan Laboratories Inc., signed an agreement with the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) that significantly lowers the price of AIDS treatment for second-line anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), as well as a new, once-a-day pill that is currently cost prohibitive in the developing world. UNITAID, an international drug purchase facility established in 2006 by France, Brazil, Chile, Norway and the UK will provide CHAI with more than USD 100 million to buy these second-line medicines through 2008.

This deal positions Matrix as one of the key suppliers of affordable second-line Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs into 66 low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Second-line treatment is required in patients who develop resistance to first-line treatment and typically costs 10 times the price of first-line therapy. Nearly half a million patients will require these drugs by 2010. Matrix has developed efficient low-cost processes to reduce prices significantly, allowing more widespread access to second-line treatment.