Additional reprints related to the South African court case
-----------------------------------------------------------
* E-Drug/MSF - March 8 (previous post)
German minister calls on industry to withdraw from SA case
http://www.healthnet.org/programs/e-drug-hma/e-drug.200103/msg00046.html
* SABC news - March 8
Merck leads the pack in Aids drugs price cuts
http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/Article/print_whole_story/0,1093,12033,00.html
* E-Drug/MSF [reproduced from E-Drugs with thanks] - March 8
Green MEPs on the SA court case
http://www.healthnet.org/programs/e-drug-hma/e-drug.200103/msg00047.html
--
March 08, 2001, 09:33 AM
Source:
http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/Article/print_whole_story/0,1093,12033,00.html
Merck leads the pack in Aids drugs price cuts
March 08, 2001, 09:33 AM
US drug maker Merck and Co Inc. says it is slashing the price of two
Aids drugs in developing countries to a level at which it would make
no profit on their sale.
The move, effective immediately, comes as the pharmaceutical industry
is embroiled in a fierce legal battle over access to cheap drugs with
the South Africa government. The issue came to a head this week when
a case, brought by 39 of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies
to stop South Africa importing cheaper AIDS drugs, came to trial in
Pretoria.
The companies contend South African legislation allowing cheap im-
ports infringes on their intellectual property rights. The South Af-
rican government and the industry's critics argue that drug companies
abuse their patents in the way they price medicines in different mar-
kets. The trial was adjourned until April 18.
Sold at almost half price
The cost of Merck's Crixivan product, the first protease inhibitor to
be offered at such deep discounts, will be $600 per patient per year
while Stocrin will be offered at $500. The new prices represent re-
ductions of some 40 to 50% from already discounted prices pledged to
African governments last year.
Jon Liden, a spokesperson for the Geneva based World Health Organisa-
tion, says Merck's move was in part a response to increasing competi-
tive pressure from Indian generic manufacturers.
"We have indications that other companies are in the process of doing
the same ... We find it very positive that prices are now coming down
substantially," he said.
Raymond Gilmartin, Merck CEO, says he hopes his company's action
would spur governments and other purchasers, including employers, to
invest in the infrastructure which is needed to ensure powerful anti-
retroviral drugs are dispensed properly.
"Our goal is to spur efforts to accelerate access to these life sav-
ing medications in those developing countries where the HIV/Aids epi-
demic has taken such a widespread and devastating toll." - Reuters
Article printout courtesy of the South African Broadcasting Corpora-
tion.
Copyright (c) 2001 SABC. See 'Disclaimer'
--
E-drug: Green MEPs on the SA court case
Source:
http://www.healthnet.org/programs/e-drug-hma/e-drug.200103/msg00047.html
From Ellen 't Hoen <EHOEN@paris.msf.org>
MSF
THE GREENS/EUROPEAN FREE ALLIANCE IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PRESS
RELEASE - Brussels, 5 March 2001
Stop drugs scandal, say Greens/EFA
South Africa's drug industry case - branded immoral
The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament is calling on the
multinational pharmaceutical industry to withdraw its legal action
against the South African government over the import of cheaper anti-
AIDS drugs from the parallel market. In a landmark court case in Pre-
toria today on intellectual property rights in developing countries,
the power and influence of the large pharmaceutical companies to will
be put to the test.
Paul Lannoye MEP, (Belgium) Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group,
said:
"At the point where the South African government has adopted a more
enlightened policy on HIV and AIDS, the multinational pharmaceutical
giants are seeking to prevent the government from doing so. By using
the patents right argument they seek to prohibit the importation and
distribution of cheaper drugs. It is a well established principle of
international trade law, included in the WTO Agreement on Trade Re-
lated Intellectual Property (TRIPs), that in cases of national emer-
gency, such patent rights can be set aside by any country. Where gen-
erically equivalent but significantly cheaper drugs can be imported
from the so-called 'parallel' market, it is simply immoral for the
industry to take such legal action".
Only last week, through the Gemelli Report on Community Development
Policy, did the European Parliament call for the granting of free li-
cences for manufacturing and marketing appropriate medicines in cases
of health emergencies. Following that debate, Dr. Didier-Claude Rod
MEP (France), commented:
"This profoundly anti-social legal action shows how deep is the fault
line between the international patent regime and the real medical
needs of people in fighting a scourge such as HIV/AIDS. The Brazilian
and Indian governments have also been targeted in an attempt to close
the market in cheaper alternative sources of such drugs".
For more information: Press Office of the Green/EFA Group
Helmut Weixler: mailto:hweixler@europarl.eu.int
Eluned Haf: mailto:ehaf@europarl.eu.int
Isabelle Zerrouk: mailto:izerrouk@europarl.eu.int
http://www.groenlinks.nl/grliform.htm
--
Reprinted under fair use by
Christian Labadie
mailto:CLabadie@t-online.de
--
Send mail for the `AFRO-NETS' conference to `afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.