E-DRUG: SA Prices of ddi, d4T and Combivir remain high
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[Although Merck and Boehringer Ingelheim made their recent
price reductions available to the SA private sector as well,
BMS and GSK seem not (yet) to have done so.
Prices for ddI, d4T and AZT/3TC remain high for SA private
sector. Maybe someone can ask BMS and GSK whether this is
deliberate?
Crossposted from Pharm-Policy with thanks. NN]
I just droped by the Irene Pharmacy to check out the prices for
ddi, d4T and Combivir in the South Africa market. The price are, for a
months supply of each product:
Videx/ddI 150 mg/ 60 tabs ZAR 652.54 $US 80 $2.67/day
Zerit/d4T 40 mg / 60 tabs ZAR 1565.68 $US 192 $6.40/day
Combivir 60 tabs ZAR 1710.00 $US 210 $7.00 /day
This drug store markup seemed a bit steep, since the wholesale price,
including the 14 percent VAT, is
Videx/ddI 150 mg/ 60 tabs ZAR 435.02 $1.78 day
Zerit/d4T 40 mg / 60 tabs ZAR 1,043.78 $4.27 day
Combivir 60 tabs ZAR 1,140 $4.66 day
But of course all this is a lot higher than what most people reading
newspapers think the prices are, based upon company press releases for
US and European papers. The discounted prices that one reads about are
typically only available to some governments, and in the case of South
Africa, since the government is buying basically zip, the only real
prices for AIDS patients are those in the private sector.
Jamie
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James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
http://www.cptech.org
love@cptech.org
1.202.387.8030 fax 1.202.234.5176
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