
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 24, 1993                   TAG: 9306240133
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW BERN, N.C.                                LENGTH: Short

BATTLE BREWING OVER GENERIC VERSION OF AZT

The price of the AIDS drug AZT could hang on a patent infringement case that goes to court next week and will determine whether generic drug makers are allowed to produce a cheaper version of the medication.

Pharmaceutical giant Burroughs Wellcome Co. is trying to prevent the cracking of its exclusive patent rights to produce the drug, which it sells as Retrovir. The company contends its researchers developed AZT and that patents give the firm a monopoly on it.

Generic drug producers contend that federal money and personnel were a significant part of the development of AZT, and that no one company should have exclusive rights to it. They are supported by the National Institutes of Health.

A ruling against Burroughs Wellcome could result in a version of AZT that is less expensive than the $2,200 a year wholesale cost now charged by the drug company.

by CNB