Two categories can be distinguished of voluntary agreements between supplier firms and developing country governments to supply differentially priced products:

a) initiatives where prices are negotiated at a central level, such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the Green Light Committee (GLC);

b) initiatives where prices are negotiated at a disaggregated level, between suppliers and countries³.

³ Unpublished paper commissioned by WHO to Cheri Grace, 2002.

Voluntary agreements in the second category include those between firms and countries to supply discounted ARVs through the Accelerating Access Initiative (a collaboration between 5 UN agencies and 6 research-based pharmaceutical companies); as well as agreements between countries and Indian, Brazilian or other countries’ public or private pharmaceutical manufacturers. These agreements need to be assessed in terms of their price level, volume assured, duration of the deal and any other conditions which may be requested by the manufacturer.