Pharmaceutical manufacturer Roche has pledged further help to tackle HIV/AIDS in the world’s poorest and hardest hit countries.

The Switzerland-based company will provide technical expertise to help companies in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere make generic versions of saquinavir, a drug that stops the HIV virus from replicating.

The move is the first under Roche's new technology transfer program that is due to begin later this year.

William M. Burns, CEO Division Roche Pharmaceuticals, stated, “With international funding now available, Africa will be the world’s biggest user of HIV medicine. We have taken this unique step to help ensure that the right medicines in the right formulation are available locally. We want to use the knowledge we have developed to help strengthen local manufacturing capability and hope to help as many manufacturers as possible in these hardest hit countries by sharing our knowledge, so that they can learn and benefit from our technology.”

A new Roche team is being established that will be based in part on the ground in Africa, as much of the knowledge and skill sharing will be undertaken onsite, at the local manufacturer’s production facilities, and in part at the global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.