The charity formed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the deal Thursday with two Chinese suppliers of artemisinin and four Indian firms that process the anti-malaria drug ingredient into finished products.
Under the deal, the Chinese suppliers will sell artemisinin, the raw material derived from the plant wormwood, to the Indian firms at no more than $136 a pound, said Dai Ellis, the foundation's executive vice president for access programs, according to the International Herald Tribune. The Indian firms, in turn, will sell the final medicine at an agreed-upon low wholesale price.
The deal was prompted by the fluctuating price of wormwood, which sold for as low as $150 a pound to as high as $1,100 per pound in just a few years. With a stable price, the countries assisted by the foundation can buy more malaria medicine at lower prices for distribution to more patients.
