Charity Attacks Gilead Over Hepatitis C Drug Restrictions

Friday, March 20, 2015

Charity Medecins Sans Frontieres has accused U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O of restricting access to its breakthrough hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in developing countries as it tries to protect profit margin in wealthier nations.

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Gilead’s restrictions aimed to stop discounted supplies of Sovaldi being diverted to patients from rich countries, but that the effort had resulted in “multiple restrictions and demands” on people receiving treatment in poor countries.

It said Gilead was excluding people without national identity documents, a move that hurts migrants, refugees and marginalized patients.

“We’re seeing Gilead trying everything it can to squeeze every last drop of profit out of some middle-income and (high-income) countries, and millions of people with hepatitis C will have to pay the price,” said Rohit Malpani, Director of Policy and Analysis at MSF’s Access Campaign.

Gilead said in developing countries it operates a system of tiered pricing and voluntary generic licensing to help enable access to its hepatitis C medicines.

“As part of these efforts, the company works to ensure that the medicines reach their intended recipients with patient access our primary goal,” a Gilead spokesman said.

Source: Reuters (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
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philanthropy, vaccines