Washington Blade - March 23, 2001
Will O'Bryan
"This is not about profits and patents; it's about poverty and a devastating disease," said John L. McGoldrick, Bristol-Myers Squibb executive vice president, in a March 14 press release announcing the change in policy. "We seek no profits on AIDS drugs in Africa, and we will not let our patents be an obstacle."
Bristol-Myers said it would make available at below cost and in all African countries its two nucleoside analogs, ddI (sold under the brand name Videx) and stavudine (or Zerit). The drugs will be sold for only $1 per day dosage for both drugs. The company also pledged an additional $15 million to its $100 million commitment to combating AIDS among women and children in Africa. Finally, patent rights to stavudine will be made available at no cost in South Africa, which will allow patients unchallenged access to generic versions.
Merck announced March 7 that it will cut prices on two protease inhibitors, indinavir (Crixivan) and efavirenz (Stocrin), in developing countries. The Merck announcement stressed that the new prices, one year's dosage of Crixivan at $600 and Stocrin at $500, are too low to provide any profit to the company.
Thomas McClure, coordinator of the D.C. AIDS Information Line at the Whitman-Walker Clinic, said a year's supply of each drug at a standard dosage would cost a patient at Whitman-Walker Clinic's pharmacy, which provides the medications at wholesale prices, $4,596 for indinavir and $3,972 for efavirenz. The wholesale price for ddI at the non-profit community clinic runs about $7 per day for ddI and about $7 per day for stavudine.
"Our goal is to spur efforts to accelerate access to these life-saving medications in those developing countries where the HIV/AIDS epidemic has taken such a widespread and devastating toll on the lives of those living with HIV, their families and their communities," said Raymond V. Gilmartin, Merck's chair, president, and chief executive officer.
The lawsuit in South Africa, to which Bristol-Myers and Merck are party, challenges a South African law that allows the government to import generic versions of AIDS drugs that are far less expensive than those offered directly from the manufacturers.
"This victory has come about as a result of the global effort by HIV/AIDS activists," said a statement from South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign, according to an Associated Press report. "The pressure has become too much for [Bristol-Myers] and they are relenting." TAC is a defendant in the South African lawsuit.
Activists around the world have staged rallies during March to challenge pharmaceutical companies, 39 in all, represented by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association of South Africa in the lawsuit, and to mark the start of the trial on March 5 in the South African High Court in Pretoria. The trial is currently in adjournment to allow PMA to prepare for testimony from TAC concerning the level of suffering HIV/AIDS has caused in South Africa. The trial is set to resume April 18.
In Washington, about 150 demonstrators, largely from ACT UP/Philadelphia, held a rally to support South Africa the morning of March 12 at that country's embassy, followed by an afternoon protest at the downtown headquarters of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
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