Four years after AIDS drugs bill passed, first low-cost meds may head to Rwanda

- Four years after it was passed unanimously by Parliament, a bill allowing low-cost AIDS drugs to be exported to Africa may finally produce results.

Generic drug maker Apotex Inc. says it has been awarded a contract by the government of Rwanda to sell its three-in-one AIDS pill to that country, the final hurdle in the onerous process of making Canada's Access to Medicines Regime work.

A company spokesperson says the first drugs should start being shipped in the fall, as long as none of the companies that hold the patents on the drugs withdraw their permission in the interval. Read more