[Ip-health] AIDS Healthcare Foundation Says SA Competition Commission Settlement on GSK's' AIDS Drug Pricing "Too Little, Too Late"

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.aidshealth.org/newsroom/press/PR121003a.htm

AIDS Healthcare Foundation Says South African Competition Commission
Settlement On GSK=92s AIDS Drug Pricing, =93Too Little, Too Late=94

Settlement Follows Complaints Brought Against GSK By AHF And South
African AIDS Activists. In October, The Commission Found GSK &
Boehringer Ingelheim Guilty Of Charging Excessively High Prices For
Their Anti-AIDS Drugs

10 December 2003, LOS ANGELES, CA =96 AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF),
the US=92 largest AIDS organization which operates free HIV treatment
clinics in the US, South Africa, Uganda, and Honduras, today expressed
disappointment on a settlement by South Africa=92s Competition Commission
(a body somewhat akin to the US Federal Trade Commission) with
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) over GSK=92s AIDS drug pricing and policies in South
Africa. AHF and South African AIDS activists had filed complaints with
the Commission over GSK=92s AIDS drug pricing and polices. In October, the
Commission found GSK, =93=85guilty of charging excessively high prices for
its anti-AIDS drugs and recommended that they be fined 10 percent of
their annual sales in South Africa. The commission also said the
companies [GSK & Boehringer Ingelheim] refused licenses to generic drug
competitors=94 according to an October 18th New York Times article.

=93As a party to this action, AIDS Healthcare Foundation is disappointed
by the decision of the Competition Commission in that it does not hold
GSK accountable for their past misdeeds. While we hope this settlement
will lead to increased access to drugs in the future, it is difficult to
see how lowering GSK=92s royalties is sufficient punishment for decades of
overcharging for their drugs,=94 said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare
Foundation President. =93Even though one cannot place a monetary value on
the hundreds of thousands of lives lost due to the greed of GSK, surely
some financial price must be paid by the world=92s largest HIV/AIDS drug
maker for their callous disregard for human life. And while we are
pleased to see GSK=92s royalty rate slashed from 30 percent down to 5
percent, we believe the overall settlement is too little, too late. AHF
and its South African partners will continue to pursue damages on behalf
of patients and family members who have been harmed by GSK=92s actions in
South Africa.=94

AHF was represented in its Commission complaint by the South African law
firm Strauss Daly Inc, with attorney Musa Ntsibande serving as chief
counsel. [Strauss Daly Inc., 2nd Floor, East Coast Radio House, 313/315
Umhlanga Rocks Drive, Umhlanga, South Africa (031) 570-5600]