Pharma Refuses to Ensure Equitable Access to HCV treatment at Global Meeting
Matt Chris said
Mar 4, 2014
Big Pharma is playing their cards very close to their vest.
They are likely watching how it turns out for Gilead with India and China.
i would guess they will fall in line with the safest course rather than be the radical one company that could change the greed mode. .To bad all it would take is one of them to jump ship and be considerate to these poorer nations.
Time will tell
matt
Tig said
Mar 3, 2014
I believe Gilead is only doing that in India, maybe China because they stand to lose billions in USD$. They have made exceptions to their patent rights for those countries (thus far), because they were determined to ignore threats of litigation over patent right infringement. If Gilead gets their way, they'll try to restrict the use of those generic copies within the borders of the "offending" countries. I think they're only allowing it in these cases to mitigate their potential losses. Big Pharma has no limits to their greed...
Bangkok, Thailand, February 28, 2014 - Thirty-eight activists from 22 countries joined forces at the first-ever Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) World Community Advisory Board (CAB) to demand equitable access to treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) from six multinational pharmaceutical companies. Yet AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, and Roche refused to provide a plan for equitable access to treatment for HCV, a curable infection that kills over 350,000 people each year.
AIDS activists, including people living with HIV, people living with HCV, people who inject drugs (PWID), and their allies, are fighting for access to a new generation of HCV drugs - called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). These drugs offer the potential to eradicate HCV; they have cured up to 100 percent of people in clinical trials.
All of the companies refused to commit to price reductions that would allow affordable access for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), home to more than 85 percent of the 185 million people living with HCV. Even Roche and Merck, producers of older, soon-to-be-obsolete HCV drugs, refused to lower prices to affordable levels.
Big Pharma is playing their cards very close to their vest.
They are likely watching how it turns out for Gilead with India and China.
i would guess they will fall in line with the safest course rather than be the radical one company that could change the greed mode. .To bad all it would take is one of them to jump ship and be considerate to these poorer nations.
Time will tell
matt
I believe Gilead is only doing that in India, maybe China because they stand to lose billions in USD$. They have made exceptions to their patent rights for those countries (thus far), because they were determined to ignore threats of litigation over patent right infringement. If Gilead gets their way, they'll try to restrict the use of those generic copies within the borders of the "offending" countries. I think they're only allowing it in these cases to mitigate their potential losses. Big Pharma has no limits to their greed...
Tig
This article seems to contradict what Gilead said in the enclosed link, any thoughts?
www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/gilead-local-generic-players-in-talks-to-bring-hepatitis-c-drug-into-india/article5649841.ece
Bangkok, Thailand, February 28, 2014 - Thirty-eight activists from 22 countries joined forces at the first-ever Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) World Community Advisory Board (CAB) to demand equitable access to treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) from six multinational pharmaceutical companies. Yet AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, and Roche refused to provide a plan for equitable access to treatment for HCV, a curable infection that kills over 350,000 people each year.
AIDS activists, including people living with HIV, people living with HCV, people who inject drugs (PWID), and their allies, are fighting for access to a new generation of HCV drugs - called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). These drugs offer the potential to eradicate HCV; they have cured up to 100 percent of people in clinical trials.
All of the companies refused to commit to price reductions that would allow affordable access for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), home to more than 85 percent of the 185 million people living with HCV. Even Roche and Merck, producers of older, soon-to-be-obsolete HCV drugs, refused to lower prices to affordable levels.
Full article...
http://hcvadvocate.blogspot.ca/2014/02/pharma-refuses-to-ensure-access-to.html