The US Food and Drug Administration has given the tentative green light to another generic AIDS treatment as part of the country’s plan to improve access to AIDS drugs in the developing world.

The tentative approval means that a copycat version of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Zerit (stavudine), manufactured by Indian company, Aurobindo Pharma, will now be available outside the USA under the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was first announced in 2003 and is currently providing $15 billion dollars to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic over five years, with a special focus on 15 of the hardest hit countries.

Last month, Aurobindo’s version of GlaxoSmithKline’s Epivir (lamivudine) was tentatively approved under the plan, and Aurobindo and Ranbaxy Laboratories have also won the tentative okay for generic versions of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Viramune (nevirapine) [[17/06/05g]], [[21/06/05f]].