Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - December 4, 2000
Michael Waldholz, Staff Reporter
Last March Pfizer offered to give away a certain amount of Diflucan after intense lobbying and public demonstrations against the company by AIDS activists in South Africa and elsewhere. But since then the company and the health ministry have haggled over terms of the donation.
As part of an agreement announced Friday in Johannesburg, South Africa, Pfizer agreed to provide the drug to "those who cannot afford" it to treat two conditions, cryptococcal meningitis, a life-threatening brain infection, and esophageal candidiasis, a fungal infection of the esophagus.
Jack Watters, a Pfizer vice president for medical affairs, said the initial agreement covers two years during which drugs will be provided to treat about 150,000 patients a year. The company also is providing an unspecified amount of money to cover professional training, distribution costs and other supplies related to treatment. After two years, Dr. Watters said, the program will be evaluated.
During recent months, the company reduced the price of a daily dose of the pills to about $4 a day to government clinics, though the price reduction isn't part of the agreement between the two parties. The drug still sells for about three to four times that for private patients.
Nono Simelela, HIV program director for South Africa's ministry of health, says it took so many months to negotiate the deal because Pfizer's initial offer of Diflucan was only for those suffering from the meningitis problem, which only affects 10% of people with HIV/AIDS. In the end, Pfizer did expand the offer to include those also suffering from the esophagus infection, which affects about 40% of HIV/AIDS patients.
Officials at Pfizer and the South African health ministry said they expect other countries hard hit by the AIDS pandemic to seek price concessions or donations. Dr. Watters said he expects to have discussions with other nations in the coming months.
Write to Michael Waldholz at mike.waldholz@wsj.com2
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