E-DRUG: AIDS drug turnovers
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[The South African Parliament is discussing the AIDS epidemic;
below a press cutting from the presentation by MSF-South Africa to
the Portfolio Committee on Health. WB]
Cape Times, May 10 2000
Manufacturers coin billions on Aids drug
Aids groups have been talking about the big business of HIV drugs
for years now. On Wednesday, they supplied the figures.
A spokesperson for the international humanitarian group Medecins
Sans Frontieres silenced the parliamentary health portfolio
committee as he listed the amounts made by pharmaceutical
companies on life-saving drugs.
"Glaxo Wellcome made $589-million (about R4,123-billion) on one
drug, Combivir, in 1999 alone," said Toby Kasper. "This covered
their research and development costs two-and-a-half times in just
one year."
Between 1997 and 1999, sales on anti-Aids drugs - less production
costs, reached:
$694-million (about R4,858-billion) for AZT.
$1,453-billion (about R10-billion) for 3TC.
$379-million (about R2,653-billion) for ddI.
$1,136-billion (about R7,552-billion) for d4T.
According to the US pharmaceutical industry, they spend $215-
million (about R1,505-billion) to develop a new medicine from the
initial idea to the final product.
"They keep telling us they need patent protection on these drugs to
recover research costs, but their own figures show they have easily
covered these costs already," he said.
"It seems a little hypocritical to suggest more profit must be wrung
out of developing countries."
Kasper was one of several speakers on Wednesday to call on the
drug companies to lower prices of essential drugs in developing
countries so as to avert the deaths of tens of millions of people.
"We are not suggesting you drop the price of Viagra or other life-
style drugs, but for drugs necessary to keep people alive, the
prices must go down," he said.
Kasper added that Africa represented less than one percent of the
global drug market and the pharmaceutical industry could forego all
profit made in Africa without touching its bottom line.
"If they are not willing to do this, the government has the ability to
do it themselves," he said.
SA patent laws enable the state to issue compulsory licences for
essential drugs to allow other companies to manufacture them
even when they are under patent.
Another way of reducing the prices is through parallel importation,
essentially "global shopping" for the cheapest price.
"The pharmaceutical companies have said these measures do not
decrease prices in practice, but the figures don't bear that out,"
said Kasper.
He listed prices of anti-Aids drugs showing that without competition
from generics these prices had decreased by about 17 percent in
the last four years. Where patent laws were less strictly enforced
prices had dropped by 80 percent.
"Clearly these measures do work," he said.
The Treatment Action Campaign's Zackie Achmat said he had paid
over R5 000 for a fluconazole (anti-thrush) treatment in South Africa
that he later (illegally) imported from Thailand for R400.
"The pharmaceutical industry argues they offer preferential prices
to the state," said Achmat. "But we know these prices could go
lower still."
In Thailand a good quality generic of fluconazole costs about R4 for
200mg. In South Africa the state pays R36 and the private sector
between R150 and R200.
"Fluconazole has been on state tender for years. It is only the
patent that keeps the price high."
The government is expected to respond to the submissions when
the hearings resume next week.
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