[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 45 (Tuesday, April 11, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2532-S2533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROTH:
  S. 2391. A bill to suspend temporarily the duty on (S)-6-chloro-3,4-
dihydrol - 4 - cyclopropyethynyl-4-trifluoromethyl-2(1H)-quinazolinone; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  S. 2392. A bill to suspend temporarily the duty on (S)-6-chloro-3,4-
dihydro-
4E-cyclopropyethynyl - 4 - trifluoro-methyl-2(1H)-quinazolinone; to the 
Committee on Finance.


    legislation to temporarily reduce tariffs on hiv-combating drugs

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce two bills, each of

[[Page S2533]]

which would temporarily suspend the tariff collected on imports of two 
HIV-combating drugs, thus lowering their price for HIV-infected 
consumers in the United States.
  The two drugs are DPC 961 and DPC 083. They have been selected from 
hundreds of candidates to have superior attributes relative to 
currently marketed similar drugs. As such, their combined potency, 
excellent resistance profile, lower protein binding, and longer plasma 
half life increases the probability that these drugs will successfully 
treat both HIV patients who have not previously had a similar treatment 
as well as those HIV patients who have already developed resistance to 
currently available agents. According to publicly available 
information, there is no other HIV treatment in clinical trials that is 
expected to be able to treat most patients with resistance to currently 
available agents. DPC 961 and DPC 083 are also expected to have the 
advantage of once daily therapy.
  In addition, it is my expectation that the revenue impact of these 
measures will be determined by the Congressional Budget Office to be de 
minimus. There is no manufacturer of these drugs in the United States. 
It is my hope that these measures will win the unanimous support of my 
colleagues.
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