ACT UP crashes Bristol-Myers Squibb holiday party: Activists, shouting 'Greed equals death!', charge 'price-gouging' by pharmaceutical giant

ACT UP crashes Bristol-Myers Squibb holiday party: Activists, shouting 'Greed equals death!', charge 'price-gouging' by pharmaceutical giant

Washington Blade - December 22, 2000
Sarah L. Rasmusson

NEW YORK - Refusing to swallow what they say is an outrageous price for an oral AIDS medication, about 10 members of the AIDS activist group ACT UP from New York and Philadelphia staged a protest inside the Manhattan-based international headquarters of Bristol-Myers Squibb Wednesday. The protest, which was at the company's Park Avenue office, began at 2 p.m. but was ended by building security about a half-hour later, a spokesperson for Bristol-Myers says.

"There was no verbal response to our protest, but they were clearly very upset," said Mark Milano, an ACT UP member who participated in the protest.

ACT UP members planned the direct action to demand that the pharmaceutical company cut in half the price of its AIDS medication ddI (marketed as Videx). Protesters had hoped to reach the office of Charles Heimbold, the company's chief executive officer, and demand a personal commitment from him to reduce the drug's price. While activists didn't achieve access to any executive officials, they did manage to disrupt the company holiday party before being ejected, according to a Bristol-Myers spokesperson, who asked that his name not be used.

"It was hardly a disruption," said the company's press officer, referring to the protest activity. "It was very peaceful, there was no confrontation." Police were not called to the scene.

Milano acknowledged that it was only by coincidence the company's employees were all in a conference room making merriment at that particular time. The party provided a de facto audience, he said, for their shouting and leaflet distribution. He adds that activists shouted, "Greed equals death!" over the company's employees' festive caroling.

"There is enormous price-gouging going on," said John Riley, ACT UP member and protest organizer, suggesting the price is akin to a death sentence for people with HIV and AIDS who have low to middle incomes.

Claiming that the pharmaceutical company is squeezing as much money out of AIDS patients as possible, ACT UP is demanding that Bristol-Myers Squibb cut the price of ddI back down to what it was in 1992, and place an immediate price freeze on all the company's AIDS drugs.

The company, activists argue, reformulated ddI in 1992, because - as a chewable tab - it tasted bad. The drug, which is now easier to take because of a new coating, has been re-released on the market with a 90 percent price increase, despite a "fair pricing" clause in its license agreement, says ACT UP.

"The drug they are referring to represents significant advance," a Bristol-Myers Squibb spokesperson told the Blade, "and the cost goes to pay for not only that drug but also future research and development - some things that are already in the pipeline."

Bristol-Myers Squibb, said the company spokesperson, had released a statement prior to the protest "respectfully disagreeing" with ACT UP's allegations of price-gouging.

"We stand firmly behind our commitment to researching and developing affordable medicine," he said. The company is committed to providing HIV/AIDS medications at a fair price, he added, citing the "BMS Access Program," which offers ddI to some people who can't afford the drug. The spokesperson also noted that ddI is competitively priced compared to other medications on the market.

But Riley said the company has consistently been raising ddI's price in an attempt to recuperate the cost of researching the new patent.

"The truth is, they have been raising the price for the past nine years," Riley said. "So, they have already charged customers the additional price for the research."

Riley said the patent was owned and researched by the U.S. government and licensed to Bristol-Myers Squibb, thus the company should have very little money invested in this drug. In addition, Riley said, Brazil and Thailand both make generic forms of the drug at 10 percent of the cost Bristol-Myers charges, but Bristol-Myers routs their ability to market these drugs competitively.

"This patent," Riley added, "actually means that high-priced ddI will be around a long time."

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