June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Gilead Sciences Inc. and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH will freeze prices on their AIDS drugs for certain government agencies in the U.S., a patient treatment and advocacy group said today.

Gilead, maker of the AIDS pill Truvada, will suspend price increases to three U.S. and state government agencies through Dec. 31, 2010, according to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which provides treatment for 77,000 patients in 22 countries. Boehringer, the world's largest family owned drugmaker, will freeze the price of its drug Aptivus for state AIDS programs through May 1, 2009, the Los Angeles-based foundation said in an e-mail today.

The foundation asked companies to halt price increases because of difficulties government programs have had in expanding access to life-saving AIDS drugs, the organization said. Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc., Roche Holding AG, and Johnson & Johnson's Tibotec Therapeutics unit didn't agree to the request, the foundation said in the e-mail.

``We urge the other drug companies to follow BI's and Gilead's lead and to freeze price increases that create an unnecessary burden on an already overburdened public health system and keep lifesaving drugs out reach for those who need them,'' said Michael Weinstein, president of the foundation, in the statement.

About 3 million patients in low- and middle-income countries are getting effective AIDS treatment today, about one- third more than in 2006, the Geneva-based World Health Organization said yesterday. About 33 million people worldwide are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, that causes AIDS, according to the WHO.

Three Agencies

Gilead of Foster City, California, will freeze prices on all its AIDS drugs -- Viread, Truvada and Emtriva -- for the U.S. Public Health Service, the Federal Supply Service, and the state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, said Amy Flood, a company spokeswoman. Worldwide sales of Gilead's AIDS drugs last year totaled $3.14 billion, she said.

The wholesale acquisition cost, the price paid by drug wholesalers, of Gilead's Viread is $552 a month, $329 a month for Emtriva, and $840 a month for Truvada, Flood said. Government purchasers generally get partial rebates from these prices, she said.

``We share your concern regarding antiretroviral cost pressures face by government payers, particularly during times of limited budget access and flat funding,'' said Gregg Alton senior vice president and general counsel for Gilead, in a letter to the foundation.

Boehringer spokeswoman Judith von Gordon didn't return calls seeking comment after the close of business hours.

Boehringer of Ingelheim, Germany, has already reduced the price of its drug Viramune to 60 cents a day in 78 low-income countries, and $1.20 a day in 67 middle-income countries, officials said in a letter to the foundation. The price freeze on Aptivus will apply to sales to state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, and became effective May 1, the letter said.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Lauerman in Boston at jlauerman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 3, 2008 17:12 EDT