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  Pharmaceutical companies: Oct. 2001 - Jan. 2002 

See also other materials on "Pharmaceutical companies"

Oct. 2001 - Jan. 2002:

Public-Private Partnership Leads Fight Against HIV/Aids [in Botswana]:...The Gates Foundation, partnerships with Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Harvard AIDS Institute all form "very strong" U.S. components of the southern African nation's Aids fight. (allAfrica.com, 31 Jan. 2002)

LEPROSY: Alliance Meets In Brazil, Aims To Eliminate Disease By 2005 -...Alliance partners Novartis AG, which provides free multi-drug therapy to leprosy patients, and the Nippon Foundation are also participating in the conference (UN Wire, 31 Jan. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Groups Import Generic Drugs Into South Africa, Flouting Patent Laws - Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres and the South African AIDS activist group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said yesterday they have imported much less expensive generic versions of three anti-retroviral AIDS drugs into South Africa from Brazil, despite local patent protection laws. "Today we have decided to openly break the patent right of the pharmaceutical companies ... because we have decided that the life of a patient cannot be put under the patent right" (UN Wire, 30 Jan. 2002)

TAC, Cosatu bring in cheap Aids drugs [South Africa]: The Treatment Action Campaign and Cosatu are set for another showdown with government - this time because they have brought generic anti-retroviral drugs into the country...Achmat said they had defied the act to force the government to either ask the drug companies for voluntary licences or to apply for compulsory licences, moves that would make the drugs more affordable. (Anso Thom, Star [South Africa], 29 Jan. 2002)

World Economic Forum Global Health Initiative Rallies Private Sector to Fight Against HIV, TB and Malaria (World Economic Forum, 23 Jan. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: KwaZulu-Natal To Provide Nevirapine Despite Federal Policy [South Africa] (UN Wire, 23 Jan. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Mining Executive Expected To Be Named To Global Fund Board - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, launched by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan last year, is set to name Anglo American Deputy Chairman Goran Lindahl as its 18th and last board member, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday...Top fund organizers said last year that drug makers should be centrally involved in the fund's work, but...fund officials worried that having a drug executive on the board would lead to "conflict-of-interest issues." (UN Wire, 22 Jan. 2002)

Activists to oppose govt Aids ruling appeal [South Africa]: Aids activists are planning a series of new lawsuits aimed at widening access to treatment for HIV and Aids patients...The TAC also plans to support a bid by Indian drug company Cipla to secure a licence enabling it to sell in South Africa copies of patented drugs made by international pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and GlaxoSmithKlein. (SAPA/AP, in Dispatch [South Africa], 21 Jan. 2002)

'Conflict of Interest' Charge for Gates-Backed Health Fund: Directors of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) will be told by the authors of a new health report that they are in danger of putting the sale of costly new vaccines ahead of their aim of halting millions of preventable child deaths..."we must ensure that this initiative does not become a marketing vehicle for the pharmaceutical companies by increasing demand for expensive new vaccines," she [Annie Heaton, private-sector research analyst at Save the Children] said. (Daniel Nelson, OneWorld UK, 18 Jan. 2002) 

Walden Asset Management Announces Shareholder Advocacy Actions for 2002 [includes shareholder resolutions on the following issues & companies: Climate Change - Exxon Mobil, ChevronTexaco and Occidental Petroleum; Mercury Pollution - J.C. Penney and HCA; Indigenous Peoples' Rights - Lehman Brothers; Sweatshop/Vendor Standards - TJX, Kohl's, Delphi Automotive, Hasbro, Sears and Lowes; Health Risk Caused by Cigarette Filters - Eastman Chemical; Drug Accessibility - Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb; impact of drilling in environmentally sensitive areas - BP Amoco] (Walden Asset Management, 4 Jan. 2002)

Access to essential medicines (ING Sustainable Growth Fund, Jan. 2002)

Pfizer donates drugs to help fight trachoma...the world's leading cause of blindness [Morocco]:...the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI)...relies on co-operation between Pfizer, the Moroccan government, organisations including Unicef, the Helen Keller Foundation and the World Health Organisation (Celeste Biever, Financial Times, 28 Dec. 2001)

Brazil's Successful Anti-AIDS Efforts Set to Expand: The Brazilian government plans to push for a more concerted international effort to come up with an HIV/AIDS vaccine, after the triumphs it has scored in its efforts to manufacture or attain cheap anti-retroviral drugs and make them available to low-income patients free of charge. (Mario Osava, Inter Press Service, 26 Dec. 2001)

Brazil Sees Promise in Jungle Plants, but Tribes See Peril: The Brazilian government, increasingly fearful of what it regards as "biopiracy" by foreign pharmaceutical companies, universities and laboratories, is moving to impose stricter controls on medicinal plants in the Amazon region. (Larry Rohter, New York Times, 23 Dec. 2001)

Experts Advocate More Health Spending To Save Lives - A $66 billion increase in annual development aid for health care in poor countries would not only save some 8 million lives per year but also generate at least $360 billion annually by 2015, a World Health Organization-commissioned panel said yesterday in a new report. (UN Wire, 21 Dec. 2001)

Govt to appeal Aids ruling [South Africa]: The health department announced on Wednesday that it would appeal a court ruling compelling the government to provide the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women. (South African Press Association, on News24.com, 19 Dec. 2001)

GLOBAL FUND [regarding Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, spearheaded by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan]:...The board will include an equal number of donor and developing country representatives -- seven each -- as well as two NGO and two private sector seats...Pharmaceutical companies have been excluded from the board amid worries of conflict of interest...The decision has been a disappointment for the industry (UN Wire, 17 Dec. 2001)

Samoan Healers to Share AIDS Drug Profits: The families of two Samoan women who passed on knowledge of a tree's healing powers will share in profits from any AIDS drug developed from the rain forest plant. (USA Today, 17 Dec. 2001)

Virodene crew peddles new 'Aids drug': South African scientists struck a secret deal with the makers of the banned Aids "cure" Virodene to use an unregistered herbal tablet on HIV-positive patients in 12 African countries. This revelation comes only three months after Virodene researchers were kicked out of Tanzania for illegally importing and testing their discredited anti-Aids drug on civilians and soldiers there. (Jessica Bezuidenhout, Sunday Times [South Africa], in Business Day [South Africa], 16 Dec. 2001)

Botswana seeks Brazilian aid to fight AIDS rampage:...The Brazilian ministry has ignored international drug patents and has been overseeing the production of cheaper anti-AIDS drugs at local laboratories, with annual treatment costs per patient falling from $1,800 to $1,000. (Kyodo News [Japan], 16 Dec. 2001)

Comment: AIDS ruling a victory for ordinary citizens [South Africa] (editorial, City Press [South Africa], 15 Dec. 2001)

Riverblindness Partners Pledge $39 Million To Eliminate Disease In All Of Africa By 2010:...The...partners include representatives from some 30 African countries, pharmaceutical company Merck and other private companies, 12 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 27 donors, and the sponsoring agencies – the World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (World Bank, 14 Dec. 2001)

Cheers for Aids drug ruling [South Africa]: Pretoria High Court Judge Chris Botha's verdict that the government is obliged to provide the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to all HIV-positive pregnant women, was received with jubilation in many quarters on Friday. (News24.com [South Africa], 14 Dec. 2001)

African countries negotiate to produce generic HIV drugs: Two African countries are negotiating with Thailand's government to learn how to produce cheap, generic anti-HIV drugs on Africa, the continent hardest-hit by AIDS, the World Health Organization says. Zimbabwe and Ghana are making final deals under which Thailand would provide the technical expertise needed to set up factories to produce the drugs in Africa. (Brahima Ouedraogo, Miami Herald, 14 Dec. 2001)

Wising up to the business implications of HIV/Aids: South African companies are missing out on lucrative returns by failing to see that money spent on HIV/Aids is an investment, rather than a cost, according to a new study into major Southern African companies. (Belinda Beresford, Weekly Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 14 Dec. 2001)

Brazil's Indians take path toward medicinal patents:...In their crusade, Brazilian officials and Indian representatives this week will take a declaration from a convention of Indian spiritual leaders and witch doctors to the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization meeting in Geneva. (Andrei Khalip, Reuters, 12 Dec. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: World Bank Official Says Africa Needs Resources To Fight Disease - The World Bank's global HIV/AIDS adviser, Debrework Zewdie, said today at the 12th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Africa in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, that Africa needs to be given the resources to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic and that Africans should not go without new drug treatments because of the cost. (UN Wire, 11 Dec. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: 12th African Conference Hears Demands For Treatment (UN Wire, 10 Dec. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Merck Cuts Prices For China - After "long and intensive negotiations" with China's Health Ministry, the Chinese arm of Merck Sharp and Dohme will slash by two-thirds the price of the HIV/AIDS drugs Crixivan and Stocrin in the country beginning this month (UN Wire, 3 Dec. 2001)

Litigation Update: A Summary of Recent Developments in U.S. Cases Brought Under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Protection Act [includes update on lawsuit against Pfizer for conduct in Nigeria] (Jennifer Green [staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights] and Paul Hoffman [civil rights attorney and editor of ACLU International Civil Liberties Report], in ACLU International Civil Liberties Report 2001 [American Civil Liberties Union], Dec. 2001)

Corporations Behaving Badly: The Ten Worst Corporations of 2001 [Abbott Laboratories, Argenbright Security, Bayer, Coca Cola, Enron, ExxonMobil, Philip Morris, Sara Lee, Southern Co. and Wal-Mart] (Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, Multinational Monitor, Dec. 2001)

A Strong Cartel: The European Commission in November fined eight companies [including Hoffmann-La Roche & BASF] a total of $755.1 million for participating in eight distinct secret market-sharing and price-fixing cartels affecting vitamin products..."It is particularly unacceptable that this illegal behavior concerned substances which are vital elements for nutrition and essential for normal growth and maintenance of life” [said Competition Commissioner Mario Monti] (Russell Mokhiber, Multinational Monitor, Dec. 2001)

WHO medicines expert calls for new rules against commercial bias in medical research: The integrity of clinical trials — essential for the development of new drugs — is increasingly under threat from commercial influence, raising an urgent need for rules and guidelines to safeguard the reliability of such trials, according to an editorial in the latest issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. (World Health Organization, Bulletin press release, Dec. 2001)

High Commissioner for Human Rights calls HIV/AIDS one of greatest human rights challenges world faces [refers to the need to ensure equal access to medication and effective health services] (United Nations, 30 Nov. 2001)

State is defending the indefensible' [South Africa]: Health department justifies unequal access to Nevirapine by saying that some provinces lack the resources needed [regarding lawsuit to compel South African Government to make anti-AIDS drug Nevirapine more widely available] (Louise Cook, Business Day [South Africa], 28 Nov. 2001)

South African Miners March For Anti-AIDS Drugs: South African miners will be on the march this afternoon - to demand medicines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The marches show how HIV/AIDS has become a major industrial issue in South Africa, which has the world's highest known infection rates. (ICEM - the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 28 Nov. 2001)

Hand out Aids drug says SA [South Africa] judge: The judge hearing an action brought by Aids campaigners against the South African Government has said he thinks an anti-HIV drug should be made available all over the country as soon as possible. (BBC News, 27 Nov. 2001)

WTO Doha Conference a Setback for Labour and the Poor:...Dressed up in the language of a "development round" and rhetorical invocations of the commitment to poverty-alleviation is a significant victory for the proponents of corporate globalization...The accession of China must be seen as positive affirmation of the unlimited right of WTO member states to repress workers and elevate union busting to the level of national policy. (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations [IUF], 21 Nov. 2001)

Sudanese journalists arrested for protesting ban on corruption article: Some 25 journalists from an independent Sudanese newspaper were arrested Tuesday for protesting a ban on their publication of an article about a corruption incident, a deputy editor of the newspaper said...Security officials had come to their offices the night before to prevent them from publishing an article about the seizure of more than 2 billion Sudanese pounds (over 800,000 US dollars) worth of expired medicines and the arrest of a number of merchants that day, Sidahmed said. (AFP, 20 Nov. 2001)

Bredell Consensus Statement on the Imperative to Expand Access to Anti-Retroviral (ART) Medicines for Adults and Children with HIV/AIDS in South Africa (Treatment Action Campaign, 19 Nov. 2001)

Globalisation and Corporate Social Responsibility: Growing challenges for the healthcare sector - In rich and poor countries affordable access to health and medicines is a high profile challenge placing unfamiliar demands on businesses...Changing public and institutional investor expectations of healthcare business behaviour are now a 'business risk' (Robert Davies, Chief Executive, Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, 16 Nov. 2001)

J&J Accused of Pay Discrimination: Two Johnson & Johnson employees have sued the health care giant, accusing it of paying its black and Hispanic workers less than white colleagues and failing to promote them despite a 4-year-old internal study that said it discriminated against minority employees. Washington lawyer Cyrus Mehri, who oversaw similar racial discrimination cases against Texaco and Coca-Cola Co., and civil rights attorney Johnnie Cochran filed the federal lawsuit Thursday, seeking to represent the company's thousands of Hispanic and black workers. The company said in a statement Friday that it takes the charges in the lawsuit seriously and will ``investigate them fully.''  But it also said it has long promoted workplace diversity. (Amy Westfeldt, Associated Press, 16 Nov. 2001) 

Getting WTO's Attention Activists, Developing Nations Make Gains: Considering this was a meeting of the World Trade Organization, an institution often vilified as an agent of multinational corporate capitalism, some of the results evoked surprisingly joyful reactions among advocates for the world's oppressed. (Paul Blustein, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2001)

East Africa: New agreement on access to drugs welcomed: The Ugandan government on Thursday welcomed a declaration by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that should allow developing countries to use generic drugs in times of health crises, overriding the patents held by major pharmaceutical companies. (U.N. Integrated Regional Information Network, 16 Nov. 2001)

Cheaper AIDS drugs only half the solution, question is who gets them: IMF says scope for alleviating effect of disease through financial aid is limited - As the price of antiretroviral drugs falls, the question being asked increasingly is how affordable these treatments are for sub-Saharan public health services. The bottom line of a study the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released this week is that even if the cost of the drugs was substantially cut access to "highly active antiretroviral therapies" through public health systems is out of the question. Most of these are simply not up to providing the treatment. The study says that Botswana and SA are possible exceptions to this, but only to a limited extent. (Jonathan Katzenellenbogen, Business Day [South Africa], 16 Nov. 2001)

WTO: Agreement Reached In Doha; January Trade Round Set -...Even in light of the agreement allowing developing countries to break patents in the name of public health, the optimism of drug companies has not been dampened, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This does not change the way we sell our medicines," said Merck spokeswoman Gwen Fisher. "We do not believe that our intellectual property rights are in any way diminished," said Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America President Alan Holmer. "We're satisfied with the language" (UN Wire, 15 Nov. 2001)

TUBERCULOSIS: NGO Says TB Drug Market Could Reach $700M By 2010:...the Global TB Alliance "will capitalize on the research underway in a diverse group of public labs, biotech companies and pharmaceutical firms so that existing compounds move along the R&D [research and development] cycle quickly and deliver affordable drugs." Established a year ago, the nongovernmental organization aims to accelerate the development of new drugs and ensure universal access to improved treatment. (UN Wire, 15 Nov. 2001)

MSF reactions to Doha TRIPS agreement [on access to medicines] (Médecins Sans Frontières, 15 Nov. 2001)

Deal puts patients before the patents: Negotiators have defused the most inflammatory dispute between rich and poor nations that threatened to scuttle trade talks. They came to a tentative agreement to allow developing countries greater access to cut-price drugs to fight epidemics. The deal at the World Trade Organisation talks will assure developing countries that patent rules do not stand in the way of producing or importing generic drugs as they face health crises such as AIDS and malaria. But it ran into immediate protests from pharmaceutical company representatives, who said dilution of patent protections would discourage them from seeking cures for diseases that afflict developing nations. (Sydney Morning Herald [Australia], 14 Nov. 2001)

Green light to put public health first at WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha: A declaration on TRIPS and public health adopted today clearly recognized the potentially lethal side-effects of the TRIPS agreement and gave teeth to the measures that countries can use to counteract them. (joint statement by Médecins Sans Frontières, OXFAM, Third World Network, Consumer Project on Technology ,Consumers International, Health Action International and The Network, 14 Nov. 2001)

WTO to launch a new round of trade talks:...Mr. Clark [Ottawa trade consultant Peter Clark] said a deal reached early on in the WTO meeting that gave poor countries better access to drugs during health crises helped bridge divisions between industrialized and developing countries and increased chances of the round's successful launch. (Steven Chase, Globe and Mail [Canada], 14 Nov. 2001)

WTO Declaration on TRIPS and Health "the fight is not over": Under the leadership of the Africa Group, a bloc of more than 80 countries representing a majority of WTO Member States forced concessions from rich countries on the controversial issue of public health and drug company patent rights, despite fierce pressure from the U.S., E.U., Japan and Switzerland to divide the countries....But the declaration that emerged on public health and TRIPS from three days of negotiations was robbed of its full potential, activists say..."At the end of the day, opposition from rich countries crippled the legally binding language sought by the majority of WTO countries." (Health GAP Coalition, 13 Nov. 2001)

WTO relaxes rule on drug patents: Campaigners hope deal will cut cost of remedies for diseases which kill millions - Developing countries won a breakthrough deal on relaxing drug patents at the World Trade Organisation's Doha meeting yesterday. Campaigners hope it will bring down the cost of remedies for treating diseases killing millions of poor people every year...campaigners said the US had undermined its own position by itself threatening to override the patent on Cipro, the main anti-anthrax remedy last month, even though only four people have died of the disease. (Charlotte Denny, Guardian [UK], 13 Nov. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: UNAIDS Official Sees Global Progress, Calls For U.S. Change [interview of Pedro Chequer, UNAIDS Intercountry Program Adviser for the Southern Cone, a founder of Brazil's widely praised AIDS Program] - ...Merck did a very interesting job … dividing the world into three areas according to UNDP classification of poverty. (UN Wire, 13 Nov. 2001)

WTO confirms drugs deal: Trade negotiators at the world trade talks in Doha have reached broad agreement on a deal to ensure that poor countries have access to medicines...Ministers are expected to approve a text later on Tuesday relating to the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) intellectual property rights accord, known as TRIPS. The text will state that TRIPS "can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO members' rights to protect public health and in particular to ensure access to medicines for all". Senior US trade officials said that "great progress" had been made on the health issue, and the success demonstrated to developing countries that the WTO was "part of the solution, not part of the problem". But they argued the text was a political statement that did not have legal force. (Steve Schifferes, BBC News, 13 Nov. 2001)

Patent hypocrisy - Pharmaceuticals: Last year, 2.4 million people in sub-Saharan Africa died of AIDS. Millions more were seriously ill. Anti-viral drugs widely available in Western nations could have eased that suffering and extended many lives. But poor Africans dying slowly of AIDS could not afford them. When their governments sought generic versions, they were blocked by large pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. government. Late last month, fewer than a dozen Americans had been diagnosed with anthrax. Just four had died. Yet the abstract principles that kept life-saving drugs from dying Africans went out the window. (editorial, St. Louis Post-Dispatch [USA], 12 Nov. 2001)

Aids: The disease ten times as deadly as war (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 8 July 2000)

TROPICAL DISEASES: New Research Center Planned For Singapore - A research center, the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, is planned for Singapore next year with a focus on such tropical diseases as tuberculosis and dengue fever. The center is expected to receive $220 million in funding from Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and the Singapore Economic Development Board, the Straits Times reported last week...The center will focus particularly on diseases affecting people in developing countries, the company said..."We want to make an effort to contribute to a research area which is promising in terms of scientific and research opportunities, but would not happen if someone only cared about short-term economic growth." (UN Wire, 12 Nov. 2001)

At trade talks, generic-drug issue key:...Accused of hypocrisy by AIDS groups and developing nations, the US is now backing off on its hard-line stance on drug patents, offering new hope for AIDS-ravaged countries such as South Africa. (Nicole Itano, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Nov. 2001)

US Government's $2.5 Million Biopiracy Project in Mexico Cancelled: Victory for Indigenous Peoples in Chiapas [regarding US government-funded ICBG-Maya project aimed at the bioprospecting of Mayan medicinal plants and traditional knowledge] (ETCGroup.org, 9 Nov. 2001)

War Profiteering: Bayer, Anthrax and International Trade - This article, which lays out the issues surrounding drug patents, WTO rules and public health, was written before the recent WTO meeting in Doha, Qatar...We believe this piece is still timely because it gives context to the fierce fight over drug patenting in the WTO and the implications for both developed and developing countries. (Kavaljit Singh, Asia-Europe Dialogue Project, on CorpWatch website, 5 Nov. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: ASEAN Adopts Program To Fight Spread Of Disease -...ASEAN Secretary General Rudolfo Severino said the association will now seek to negotiate with drug companies to purchase essential drugs at discount prices. (UN Wire, 5 Nov. 2001)

EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] Program Recognizes Better Corporate Environmental Performance: Performance Track motivates and rewards businesses that exceed EPA's environmental standards. The National Environmental Performance Track program, launched by the EPA in June of 2000, recognizes the companies and facilities whose environmental performance surpasses the minimum standards set by the government...Performance Track requires participants to have an environmental management system in place, a history of sustained compliance, a foundation of community outreach, and a commitment to continuous environmental improvement. At this time, 251 facilities (listed on the website) have been accepted as Performance Track participants with 300 anticipated by 2002. The company with the most Performance Track facilities by far is Johnson & Johnson, with over 50. Other companies include toolmaker Snap-On with 9 facilities, IBM with 7 facilities, and 3M with 5 facilities. (Trevor Snorek-Yates, SocialFunds.com, 2 Nov. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Drug Access Alone Insufficient To Curb Pandemic, Panel Says - An international panel of more than 80 medical researchers and public health officials concluded this week that making anti-AIDS drugs available to developing countries at affordable prices will not be enough to curb the worldwide AIDS pandemic unless funding for AIDS prevention programs and improved national health services is also provided. (UN Wire, 1 Nov. 2001)

The Cipro Rip-Off: The prospect of bioterrorism on a massive scale has painted the Bush administration into a corner, as it tried to address demands for price reductions on the anti-anthrax drug Cipro while maintaining an anti-generics position in international trade negotiations. (Multinational Monitor, Nov. 2001)

Of patents and panics: US intellectual property law finely balances competing interests. Hasty wartime amendments would be risky, says Patti Waldmeir...Bayer, the Cipro patent-holder, was condemned for using its patent to keep generic anti-anthrax drugs out of the hands of soon-to-be-sick Americans. The US secretary of health hinted he might abrogate the company's patent rights - and then used that threat to negotiate a sharp price cut. (Patti Waldmeir, Financial Times, 31 Oct. 2001)

Public Health vs Corporate welfare choices for Doha: Months of talks and negotiations over the issues of Public Health and access to medicines, that have been affirmed to be a fundamental human right, the United States and its core supporters have refused to yield and place public health of billions across the world above corporate profits of the pharmaceutical corporations (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 29 Oct. 2001)

No new drugs for 'poor' diseases: Virtually no new drugs are being developed for diseases that predominantly affect the poor, according to a report released by the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The report, Fatal Imbalance claims, among others, that from 11 companies surveyed, only one new tuberculosis (TB) drug was brought to the market in the last five years. Eight of the 11 companies reported no research activities in the last year for fatal diseases that almost exclusively affect the poor such as sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis while many drugs are being developed for sleeping disorders, impotence and obesity. (Anso Thom, News24 [South Africa], 29 Oct. 2001)

Drug Patent Dispute Poses Trade Threat - Generics Fight Could Derail WTO Accord - Amid its own efforts to obtain cheap supplies of Cipro to fight the anthrax threat, the Bush administration is battling to keep Brazil and other developing countries from securing broad rights to override patents and lower the prices of drugs for treating AIDS and other illnesses. (Paul Blustein, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2001)

A battered Bayer opts out of a fight over its Cipro patent: Rather than suffer a bruising battle for its Cipro patent and risk more damage to its image, the German drug giant will sell the anthrax-fighting antibiotic to the [U.S.] federal government at a drastically reduced price -- 95 cents a tablet, about half earlier offers. The deal came after U.S. officials threatened to override the patent. The outcome underscores the ongoing difficulties facing the pharmaceutical industry as it tries to protect its patents. In poor countries such as Brazil and South Africa, drug makers such as Roche AG and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. have been accused of denying treatment to AIDS patients by using patent law to prevent the availability of cheaper generics. The Cipro fight is the first such squabble to involve the United States. The threat to override Bayer's patent, which expires in 2003, appears to contradict the government's own position. At a World Health Organization meeting in Qatar next month, the United States is expected to oppose efforts to produce generic medications in the event of a public-health crisis. (Ed Silverman, Star-Ledger [New Jersey], 25 Oct. 2001)

India caught in drug patent trap: It took the anthrax scare in the United States and an offer of cheap drugs from India to highlight a problem familiar to people in developing countries - the denial of access to affordable drugs because of tough patent laws. "India's thriving drug industry has provided a good example of how drugs can be produced cheaply and profitably for local markets when unburdened by exorbitant licensing fees," said Mira Shiva, an expert on pharmaceutical drugs with the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI).  Ironically, it was the United States that took India to the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement tribunal - and in 1999 it compelled India to begin working on legislation to introduce product patents and allow foreign patent holders exclusive marketing rights (EMRs) in the meantime. (Ranjit Devraj, Asia Times, 25 Oct. 2001) 

Cipro Deal Puts Industry Profits Ahead of Public Health - Consumers Question Pharmaceutical Industry Influence at HHS [U.S. Department of Health & Human Services] and FDA [U.S. Food & Drug Administration]: The German-based Bayer corporation has prevailed upon the Department of Health and Human Services to put its interests before the safety of U.S. citizens in the Cipro deal struck this week by Secretary Tommy Thompson, according to the SPAN Coalition. (Stop Patient Abuse Now [SPAN], 25 Oct. 2001)

Bayer set to reduce price of treatment for anthrax: The US government was expected to announce yesterday it had reached a deal with Bayer over the supply of Cipro, which would involve the German group reducing the price of its anthrax treatment. The agreement could help defuse the controversy over the antibiotic which has seen the US government threatening to override Bayer's patent if it did not agree to a substantial price cut, opening a new chapter in the debate about patent protection for important medicines...Campaigners have accused the US and Canadian governments of double standards over Cipro, given their previous defence of patents on Aids drugs in developing countries. (Geoff Dyer and Bettina Wassener, Financial Times, 25 Oct. 2001) 

HHS [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] reaches deal with maker of Cipro on cutting price to government: Federal officials and Bayer Corp. agreed Wednesday on a lower price for the government to stockpile the antibiotic Cipro, the most popular anti-anthrax drug. The pharmaceutical company will sell the government 100 million pills at 95 cents each, a cost of $95 million. That's a savings of $82 million from Bayer's original price of $1.77 a pill...Also Wednesday, Bayer donated 2 million tablets of Cipro to the Postal Service, which has put thousands of workers on the antibiotic as a precaution. Another 2 million will be given to fire fighters, health care workers and police (Laura Meckler, Associated Press, 24 Oct. 2001)

Global Partnerships: Humanitarian Programs of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Developing Nations:...Typically working in partnership with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as international health and relief organizations, pharmaceutical companies are directly involved in improving public health...From 1998 through 2001, the industry provided more than $1.9 billion in financial assistance and donated medicines through its NGO partners, according to the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations. (PhRMA [Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America], 24 Oct. 2001)

Unlawful Conspiracy Restricted Production of Cipro, Consumers Charge in Suit Filed [in USA] Today Against Bayer Corporation - Bayer Paid Competitors $200mm to Keep Generic Cipro Off the Market; Suit Asks Court to Intercede, Nullify Agreement and Open the Way For Generics to Enter the Market: The Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) project announced today it has gone to court to dislodge an agreement between Bayer, Barr Laboratories, and two other generic drug companies that it says is blocking access to adequate supplies and cheaper, generic versions of Cipro, now the leading antibiotic used to treat Anthrax. Decrying the inadequacy of the arrangement that the federal government just negotiated with Bayer, consumer groups in eleven states – representing over one million consumers - have signed onto the litigation. (Prescription Access Litigation project, 24 Oct. 2001)

Oxfam America calls on U.S. to make anti-anthrax medicine available: Oxfam America is calling on the US to follow the lead of the Canadian government and issue a compulsory license to enable a local US manufacturer to supply Cipro. "The US insistence on protecting Bayer's patents should not be at the expense of people's lives," said Oxfam Senior Policy Advisor Severina Rivera...Oxfam urged the Bush administration to support and not undermine U.S. Secretary of Human Services Tommy Thompson in his intention "to err on the side of caution in making sure people are protected." Thompson announced he is considering asking for legislation that would make it easier to approve generic production of Cipro (ciprofloxacin), which is under patent protection until 2003. This proposal and the immediate importation of generic equivalents from India, for example, would lower the cost to 1/30 of what Bayer charges for Cipro. "This is precisely the kind of policy option the US and every country should have available to it," said Rivera. "However, the US has led the opposition to developing-country attempts to secure these kind of policy options." (Oxfam America, 23 Oct. 2001)

Health minister accuses Bayer of playing games over anthrax drug [Canada]: Health Minister Allan Rock angrily criticized drug giant Bayer AG on Tuesday, accusing the company of playing games with the government over the availability of anti-anthrax medication...Rock said Bayer told his officials last week it could not supply enough of the patented antibiotic Cipro. As a result, Health Canada hastily ordered a generic copy of the drug from Toronto-based Apotex. When Bayer learned about the Apotex contract, it threatened to sue the government for patent infringement, and Health Canada backed down. Bayer now denies ever having said that it couldn't supply the drug...Mike McBane of the Canadian Health Coalition supported Rock's stance: "The issue is access to life-saving medicine. Should protecting public health come before protecting patents? That's the real issue." (Dennis Bueckert, Canadian Press, 23 Oct. 2001)

Rock [Canadian Health Minister Allan Rock] backs down in drug dispute: Reaches deal with Bayer: Apotex anthrax medication to be put in 'deep freeze' -...a more senior official said Mr. Rock had little choice but to come to terms with Bayer because his department had breached the drug giant's legal patent, potentially threatening the $1-billion a year the pharmaceutical industry invests in Canada. The law allows the government to suspend patents in an emergency, but there are procedures that must be followed, which were not in this case. (Robert Fife, National Post [Canada], 23 Oct. 2001)

Canadian government agrees to buy anti-anthrax drug from patent holder Bayer in an emergency: The Canadian government, working to avoid a patent lawsuit by Bayer, agreed to rely on the pharmaceutical giant to supply the anti-anthrax drug Cipro and only use generic drugs if the company can't deliver. Bayer has provided 200,000 free Cipro tablets for front-line workers and has promised to deliver more for $1.30 per pill within two days of an attack. If the German-based company can't deliver, then Health Canada would be free to use its stockpiled generic drug. (Tom Cohen, Associated Press, in San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Oct. 2001)

Government threatens Bayer patent suspension unless Cipro price are lowered [USA]: [U.S.] Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Tuesday that he is prepared to go to Congress to seek a generic version of an antibiotic used to treat anthrax infection if the manufacturer [Bayer] does not lower its price..."I can assure you we are not going to pay the price they are asking," Thompson said. (Associated Press, in San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Oct. 2001)

Healthy initiatives [Brazil]:...For the past five years, Schering-Plough, the pharmaceuticals company, and hundreds of volunteer employees have worked to bring basic health concepts to children in kindergartens in the poorest neighbourhoods in southern São Paulo city in a project called Criança é Vida (Children are Life). (Raymond Colitt, in Responsible business in the global economy: A Financial Times Guide, 23 Oct. 2001)

Patent abuse: Western governments are guilty of double standards. Having defended the inviolability of pharmaceutical patents in the developing world, they are ready to override them at home as alarm about bioterrorism spreads...The pharmaceutical industry has not always acted with the noblest intentions. Some companies use underhand tactics to monopolise markets after their patents have expired; others have not done enough to make their products affordable in poorer countries. That said, companies must have their patents protected to ensure that money is available to fund research into new treatments. The industry should work with poor countries to reduce prices, with help from the west. But in the developed world the industry's right to a proper return must be respected if research is to continue. (editorial/leader, Financial Times, 22 Oct. 2001)

South Africa Hits Out at Firms on AIDS Drugs: South Africa said on Monday AIDS Drugs were ineffective and produced side effects almost as bad as the disease itself. The African National Congress (ANC) government accused an alliance led by the pharmaceutical industry, and including AIDS activists and churches, of trying to force it into dispensing harmful antiretroviral drugs. "Government is resisting pressure to provide to all and sundry highly toxic drugs that offer no hope of eradicating the virus," ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said in a letter sent to the country's leading Business Day newspaper. (Steven Swindells, Reuters, in San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2001)

Save patent, risk lives? -...The Bush administration says it has pushed Bayer for extra Cipro supplies, but has refused to override patent laws, which it could arguably do...Washington's hesitancy has other sources. If drug licensing laws are suspended for Cipro, what about big-ticket AIDS drugs? Countries such as Brazil, South Africa and India are challenging American drugmakers, either in court or by open defiance, to permit cheaper copycat drugs. Allowing Cipro generics may embolden these challenges and prompt other groups to protest high drug prices...Our leaders need to set an example of tough-mindedness out of Washington. That means staying on the job and standing up to the powerful drug industry. (editorial, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 Oct. 2001)

The Treatment: Its image under fire, Bayer AG scrambles to meet Cipro demand - ...New York Sen. Charles Schumer questioned whether Bayer could meet soaring demand for the potent anthrax antibiotic and called for government action to allow generic production. Sunday, Senate minority leader Trent Lott predicted the Senate would soon take up debate on whether to strip the patent on Bayer's flagship product...For Bayer, a conservative German drug and chemicals conglomerate, it was a harsh introduction to its new life in the world spotlight...the company moved aggressively to tool up Cipro production at its factories, and officials insist they can meet demand. But the company was far less prepared to deal with the political and public-relations challenges that have arisen in the wake of the attacks. (Vanessa Fuhrmans and Ron Winslow, Wall Street Journal, 22 Oct. 2001)

The Bayer facts:...Worried about bioterrorism, Health Canada has ordered 900,000 generic copies of an anti-anthrax pill from a firm that doesn't hold the patent. The government has bypassed the true patent-holder, on the reasonable-sounding grounds that anthrax is a potential public emergency...If anthrax were the last public policy issue on Earth, it might make sense to smash the pharmacy window and grab the loot. But since we all believe in a future, we must acknowledge that the free world needs a stable system that reliably delivers innovations, medical or otherwise. So we'd best respect property rights. (editorial, The Ottawa Citizen, 20 Oct. 2001)

High Cipro Prices Bring Drug Patent Issue Home [USA]:...Last Spring, pharmaceutical companies suffered a major public relations blow when they appeared to be putting profits before lives in South Africa. Now, Americans have a keen sense of their own vulnerability as they face the prospect of not having access to the drugs they need to protect themselves from a bioterrorist attack. Amid the current climate of panic and patriotism, AIDS activists believe that it would be fitting indeed if today's widespread calls for national unity and international solidarity could help generate the will to provide affordable essential medications for the world's neediest citizens. (Liz Highleyman, AlterNet, 19 Oct. 2001) 

Refusal to break monopoly on Cipro dramatizes health risk of U.S. hard-line on patent protection -- at home and in AIDS-devastated poor countries (Health GAP Coalition, 19 Oct. 2001)

Aids drug cocktails to halve in price [Thailand]: Ingredients will all be made here soon (Anjira Assavanonda, Bangkok Post, 19 Oct. 2001)

Health Minister defends contract for generic antibiotics to treat anthrax [Canada]: Health Minister Allan Rock is refusing to say whether his department violated patent law in ordering a large amount of anti-anthrax medication from a generic drug company. Nor would Rock say whether he will stick with generic drug manufacturer Apotex as a source of supply now that brand manufacturer Bayer says it has ample product to meet Canada's needs. He said he is not in a position to answer those questions and they will be dealt with when his officials meet with Bayer officials next week. (Dennis Bueckert, Canadian Press, 19 Oct. 2001)

Ottawa accused of breaking its own patent law [regarding Canadian Government's decision to override Bayer's patent of anti-anthrax drug by ordering a cheaper generic version]:...The federal government can override a patent in emergency situations. But, an official emergency has not been declared. And, now Bayer is upset it was never even consulted. The German-based pharmaceutical company is even thinking about suing. Another problem for Ottawa is once the exception is made to the patent law, how many more will follow? Public health advocates welcome the renewed debate over patent protection. They say drug companies get too much protection and the patients too little. (Domenic Fazioli, Global Television Montreal, 19 Oct. 2001)

Bayer Seeks Meeting With Canadians: Canada's decision to override a patent on the anti-anthrax drug Cipro angered officials with German drugmaker Bayer AG, who said Friday they were seeking talks with the country's ministry of health. Canadian health officials said Thursday they would order stocks of the antibiotic from a Canadian manufacturer despite Bayer's patent on the antibiotic, which runs out in late 2003. (Guardian [UK], 19 Oct. 2001)

Serbian drug plants say waste may delay investment: Serbian drug producers said yesterday the unresolved problem of pharmaceutical waste stored at plants' compounds could hamper potential foreign investments and urged authorities to define a waste management strategy. (Reuters, 19 Oct. 2001) 

US in talks on anthrax patent: The US government admitted yesterday that it had held discussions with a German drugs company about overriding the patent on its anthrax drug in a move that could throw wide open the debate about the cost of medicines in poor countries. (Geoff Dyer and Khozem Merchant, Financial Times, 18 Oct. 2001)

Patents Do Matter in Africa According to NGOs: NGOs which are treating people with AIDS and working to improve access to medicines say patents block affordable, easier-to-take medicines from reaching people who need them. This is in sharp contrast to a 17 October communication co-authored by Amir Attaran of the Harvard Center for International Development and Lee Gillespie-White of the International Intellectual Property Institute, "Do Patents for Antiretroviral Drugs Constrain Access to AIDS Treatment in Africa". The publication claims that "patents in Africa have generally not been a factor in either pharmaceutical economics and antiretroviral drug treatment access." The findings of this paper have been extensively used by industry to back their claim that patents are not an issue. The pharmaceutical company Merck has also funded one of the authors. (joint statement by Oxfam, Treatment Action Campaign, Consumer Project on Technology, Médecins Sans Frontières and Health GAP, 16 Oct. 2001)

WTO Rules Block Cheaper HIV/Aids Imports [Kenya]: The National Aids Control Council of Kenya has said the government is having difficulty buying cheap HIV/AIDS drugs despite the government passing legislation in June to allow low-cost importation in June, the 'Daily Nation' reported on Wednesday. Deputy Director of NACC, Dr Patrick Oregi, was quoted as saying that some rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were hindering the importation of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) used to treat the disease. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 12 Oct. 2001)

New resolve to fight AIDS in Asia: Ministers from more than 30 nations in the Asia Pacific region committed themselves Wednesday to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as a major regional conference wound up in Melbourne...Australia would also, if asked, "provide support to Asia-Pacific governments to draft legislation to facilitate cost-effective access to essential HIV/AIDS drugs," he [Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer] said. However, Downer repeated Australia's determination that international trade agreements be adhered to on patents for HIV/AIDS treatment drugs... In a manifesto also delivered Wednesday, the Congress called on drug companies to put people before "patent rights and private profits," and for communities to oppose all forms of discrimination of those infected with HIV/AIDS. (Times of India, 11 Oct. 2001)

Report shows near empty pipeline of drugs for diseases of the world's poor: Virtually no new drugs are being developed for diseases that predominantly affect the poor, according to "Fatal Imbalance", a report issued today by the international medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). (Médecins Sans Frontières, 9 Oct. 2001)

HEALTH: Profit Alone Motivates Drug Companies, Say Health Activists - A report released Tuesday by the humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF - Doctors Without Borders) says almost no new drugs are being developed for diseases that primarily affect the world's poor populations. The MSF report, titled "Fatal Imbalance: The Crisis in Research and Development for Drugs for Neglected Diseases", states that in the last five years the world's 11 leading pharmaceutical corporations have placed just one tuberculosis medication on the market...Eight of these 11 companies "have conducted no research in the last year for fatal diseases that almost exclusively affect the poor: sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis," according to the Paris-based MSF, 1999 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 9 Oct. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Australia Says Pandemic Threatens To Mire Asia-Pacific In Poverty - The HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens to undo years of economic and social development in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told health ministers and government representatives from 35 countries today in Melbourne at the 6th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. (UN Wire, 9 Oct. 2001)

Sixth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) (5-10 Oct. 2001, Melbourne, Australia):

Greenpeace urges Novartis to recall baby products: Environmental group Greenpeace last week urged Swiss healthcare group Novartis AG to withdraw baby food being sold in the Philippines which contained genetically modified soy. (Reuters, 8 Oct. 2001)

Generic AIDS Drug in South Africa: Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC has granted a generic drug manufacturer a license to produce and market three key AIDS medicines in South Africa, a Glaxo official told The Associated Press Sunday. Under the deal, to be officially announced Monday, the South African company Aspen Pharmacare will be allowed to sell its versions of the widely used AIDS drugs AZT, 3TC and Combivir to the public health system and to nonprofit groups in South Africa, the official said on condition of anonymity...Before the agreement with Aspen, Glaxo was already offering its AIDS drugs to South Africa's public health system at cost for about $2 a day for Combivir, a combination of 3TC and AZT. However, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that even at that price providing the AIDS drugs through the public health system would bankrupt the health department. (Ravi Nessman, Associated Press, 7 Oct. 2001)

Roche Laments AIDS Drug Delivery: With AIDS drug prices slashed for the poorest countries, the problem now is how to get the vital medicine delivered to people with the disease, the head of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Friday. "We need infrastructure, training ... political will and commitment," Roche chief executive Franz Humer told Dow Jones Newswires...Large drug companies are not the only members of the private sector expected to play their part, he said. "Major employers in afflicted countries should also allocate resources to promote prevention," Humer said. (Associated Press, 5 Oct. 2001)

Novartis finds GMO soy in Philippines baby food: Swiss healthcare group Novartis AG confirmed yesterday allegations from environmental group Greenpeace that some samples of baby food it sold in the Philippines contained genetically modified soy. Novartis stressed the products were safe but added that it was seeking a new supplier. (Reuters, 5 Oct. 2001)

'Halt terror against the earth' [India]: The Maharashtra Government has reportedly given the rights to a lake - which hitherto was the community resource and a source of livelihood for the local population - to the soft drinks giant, Coca Cola, for running one of its several bottling plants in the country. This is not an isolated case. Globalisation is allowing a handful of corporations such as Cargill and Vivendi to own and control public land and water through contract farming, privatisation and commodification of resources. Corporations such as Monsanto, Syngenta and Novartis are pirating and trying to own and control our biodiversity, food, medicinal plants and knowledge through patents and IPR claims such as the neem patents, basmati and other rice patents. (Soma Basu, The Hindu [India], 5 Oct. 2001)

More Attention Urged for AIDS in Asia: Delegates at an AIDS conference warned governments in Asia and the Pacific on Friday that they can no longer ignore an epidemic that has infected 6.4 million people in the region and is spreading quickly. Activists also called on drug companies to put people before profit in the fight against AIDS. Drug manufacturers have come under increasing pressure to lower their prices for poorer countries. (Emma Tinkler, Associated Press, 5 Oct. 2001)

Joint communiqué from Secretary-General [UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan] and seven leading research-based pharmaceutical companies on access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment: Today's meeting reviewed the extent to which people of least developed countries, particularly countries of sub-Saharan Africa, are able to access the HIV care that they need, and ways to increase this access rapidly...The Secretary-General, CEOs and United Nations officials agreed that prices of medicines and diagnostics are an important component of efforts to increase access to care, but -- on their own -- reduced prices are not sufficient to catalyse the scaling up that is needed. (United Nations, 4 Oct. 2001)

New report sounds alarm over AIDS in Asia: Cautions AIDS Will Spread Unless Rapid Action Rapidly Stepped Up; Warns Some Countries on Brink of Potentially Explosive Epidemics (UNAIDS, 4 Oct. 2001)

Scandinavian Companies Work toward Sustainable Business Model: Fifteen prominent [Nordic] companies have agreed to join a partnership launched last week that will focus on developing an entirely new business model centering on sustainability. The project, dubbed the Nordic Partnership, was initiated by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in the four Nordic countries and House of Mandag Morten, a Copenhagen-based news and research provider. Well-known corporate participants include the Danish enzymes and pharmaceuticals group Novo A/S, Volvo Car Corporation, Swedish lumber and paper company AssiDomän, and the Swedish postal service, Posten AB...The objective of the partnership is to develop a business model, based on Nordic values and attitudes, that integrates sustainability into the way businesses are managed, organized and developed. (Mark Thomsen, SocialFunds.com, 3 Oct. 2001)  (Mark Thomsen, SocialFunds.com, 3 Oct. 2001)  

US panel backs caution on vaccines with mercury: There is no proof that a mercury-containing preservative present in some vaccines causes developmental disorders in children, but doctors should steer clear of giving children vaccines made with the substance just to be safe, a panel of experts said in a report yesterday. (Will Dunham, Reuters, 2 Oct. 2001)

WTO must not block access to medical treatment -...The following are extracts from a statement by the Health Gap International and ACT UP from the United States, and from an open letter to the WTO by about 40 NGOs from around the globe. (South Bulletin no. 22, South Centre, Oct. 2001)