"Last week, we reached an agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim (of Germany) that allows us to start making Nevirapine," Prakash Patel, managing director of Cosmos Limited, told AFP by telephone.

Nevirapine is one of three drugs that are combined into a single tablet used as the primary HIV treatment in Kenya, where Boehringer Ingelheim holds the patent for it.

It also helps prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and for this use, which only requires a one-off dosage to the mother, Boehringer supplies it free to many African countries, including Kenya.

"We will start to make the drug any time after we finalise with our logistics," explained Patel.

Last month, Cosmos struck a similar voluntary licencing deal with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline to make generic versions of two other antiretroviral molecules, one of which is used in the single tablet combination recommended in Kenya.

The third drug in this combination, which Cosmos plans to start producing soon, is not under patent in Kenya and can be manufactured freely.

Patel said that Cosmos would be selling its antiretroviral drugs in Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda as well as Kenya.

AIDS has killed about 1.5 million people since 1984 in Kenya.

About seven percent of Kenya's 32 million inhabitants are estimated to be infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Although Africa is the world's worst AIDS-affected region, few of its countries produce ARVs.

Producers in South Africa have reached voluntary licencing deals with patent-holders while the governments of Mozambique and Zambia have invoked their right under World Trade Organisation rules to grant local manufacturers production licences without the consent of patent-holders.

Also under WTO rules, many African states, Kenya included, import generic ARVs produced in India.

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