No Euphoria Over AIDS Drugs Among Investors

Growing competition and a limited number of people able to pay for the newer AIDS drugs will keep their sales relatively modest, according to US industry analysts. Steven Lisi of Mehta & Isaly said that "the euphoria is more for beating the disease than a $1 billion or $2 billion drug coming out."

Last year, total sales of AIDS drugs amounted to $450 million, while $2 billion was spent on R&D. Over 20 million people worldwide are HIV-positive.

Both researchers and industry analysts noted that the data on the drug cocktails came from a small pool of patients and relatively short studies. There is no euphoria among investors, according to Hemant Shah of HKS & Co, with the major question of how long drug cocktails will be effective left hanging.