E-DRUG: Big pharma shuns drugs plan for world's poorest
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From last week's European Voice on the Commission's report on the results of
the pharmaceutical "anti-trade diversion regulation", also referred to as
the "tiered price regulation" (available at:
http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/cgi-bin/antitradediversion/annual_reports.pl?ac
tion=reports)
[copied as fair use]
(Apologies for cross-postings)
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Volume 11 Number 28
20 July 2005
Big pharma shuns drugs plan for world's poorest
By David Cronin
The European Commission has revealed that only one drugs company has signed
up to a scheme it proposed nearly three years ago on providing affordable
medicines for AIDS and other major killers in poor countries.
In October 2002, Pascal Lamy, then the trade commissioner, recommended a
regulation for 'tiered pricing', under which drugs for AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis could be sold at cheaper prices in developing countries than in
the EU. At the time, he said that the Union wanted "to set an example with a
practical means of helping poorer countries struggling with public health
crises".
Yet a report by the Commission expresses regret that only the UK-based
multinational GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has so far registered any medicines
under the regulation. The scheme applies to 76 countries, but only 26 have
benefited from it. Apart from Haiti, all are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The paper maintains that tiered pricing is the "best way forward" for
dealing with the three diseases, which kill six million people a year. The
system is based on the principle, it says, that profits made in richer
countries can support lower drugs prices in poor nations.
The paper says that the practice of several major drug-makers of donating
medicines free to certain countries does not offer a "sustainable solution".
In particular, it says that Pfizer-manufactured Diflucan, used to treat
infections linked to HIV-AIDS, would be a suitable candidate for
registration, as would Coartem, an anti-malaria drug produced by Novartis.
Diflucan has been distributed in some poor countries through a donation
programme.
Some drugs firms had expressed fears that tiered pricing could lead to
medicines destined for poor countries being re-imported illegally into
Europe. Yet the Commission says it has found no evidence of this occurring
with the nine products GSK has registered. The scheme is also known as the
anti-trade diversion regulation.
Christophe de Callatay from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical
Industries and Associations said: "[The] industry fully supports the
objective of the regulation. It is clear that the diversion of
differentially priced products from their intended recipients is both
morally and politically unacceptable. But most companies believe that the
mechanism set in place is inappropriate."
An industry source said that one reason why firms opposed the plans was
because they were concerned at attempts by the Commission to determine the
prices of medicines, something that is normally the preserve of national
governments.
Seco Gerard from Médecins sans Frontieres argued that the regulation was
symptomatic of the EU's inability to grapple with the AIDS pandemic in poor
countries. "The Commission is giving the impression that this is a very
important regulation, yet GSK was already offering its products at tiered
prices before the regulation even existed. Tiered pricing could be part of
the solution. But our experience has shown that more competition has led to
tiered pricing. It's not because we have an anti-trade diversion
regulation."
Earlier this month, the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrialised countries
promised to provide access to medicines for all AIDS patients in poor
nations by 2010. This followed an admission by the World Health Organisation
that its goal of putting three million AIDS sufferers on anti-retroviral
treatment during 2005 will not be attained.
Shiba Phurailatpam from anti-poverty group ActionAid said that Europe had a
key role to play in boosting access to medicines for the needy. About 95% of
patents for AIDS-drugs were held by firms in rich countries, he added.
<i>davidcronin@economist.com</i>
Copyright 2005 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved.
Seco Gerard
MSF Access Campaign EU Liaison Officer
"Seco Gerard" <Seco.Gerard@msf.org>