PI Perspective #35

January 2003     View PDF     En español

In the Dog House

Chiron Corporation, maker of interleukin-2 (IL-2), the most promising immunotherapy for HIV, for dropping the most important study of the drug without completing it. The company has given various excuses and reasons, but the bottom line is money and an intention to become less involved in HIV. Negotiations are underway to revive a streamlined version of the study, but Chiron continues to offer less financial support than needed.

Want to tell them how you feel about this? Write or email:

Sean P. Lance, CEO, Chiron Corporation
4560 Horton Street, Emeryville, CA 94608-2916
sean_lance@chiron.com

In the Dog House

Hoffmann-La Roche, maker of saquinavir (Invirase and Fortovase) and ddC (HIVID) for setting the price of their new drug for hepatitis C, called Pegasys, even higher than that charged by Schering Plough for a similar drug.

Schering’s price, at around $14,000 per year, was already so high that most people considered it immoral, but despite the impending crisis in funding for drugs, Roche topped them, charging nearly $15,000. Pegasys must be used in combination with a second drug, ribavirin, so the true price is higher still.

Want to tell them how you feel about this? Write or email:

George Abercrombie, President & CEO, Hoffmann-La Roche
340 Kingsland St., Building 85, 8th Floor, Nutley, NJ 07110
george.abercrombie@roche.com