In the news ... 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Fair Pricing Coalition slams Bristol-Myers Squibb
over drug price increases

Contact: Paul Dalton, Project Inform & Fair Pricing Coalition, 415-558-8669 x212; Linda Dee, AIDS Action Baltimore & Fair Pricing Coalition, 410-332-1170

January 14, 2008

The Fair Pricing Coalition (FPC), an independent community group that works to  contain the prices of drugs used to treat HIV disease, issued a statement today condemning price increases announced this week by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). The increases, which ranged from 6.9 to 9 percent for all of Bristol’s HIV products “are well beyond any increases in the Consumer Price Index and above the increases taken by any other company”, said Martin Delaney of the FPC. “These drugs have been on the market for several years and their development costs have long been recovered. There is no justification for this kind of increase,” he continued. Another FPC spokesperson, Lynda Dee of the AIDS Treatment Activist Coalition and AIDS Action Baltimore, further stated “This is exactly the kind of behavior that gives the pharmaceutical industry such a bad name with the public. Bristol is doing very little if any further research in HIV and overall has poor relations with the patient community. This action makes it clear they don’t care what their customers think or need.”

Bristol-Myers Squibb currently markets four drugs for the treatment of HIV. These include: Zerit, a 15 year old drug whose sales have plummeted in recent years because of side effects; Sustiva, a very popular drug the company acquired well after it was a already a success in the marketplace and its development costs recovered; Atripla, a top selling drug that combines Sustiva in a single pill with a two drug combination made by another company (Gilead); and Reyataz, a very popular drug sold to patients at all stages of HIV disease and the only good-selling drug for HIV developed by Bristol alone. Dee asserted “Considering how little this company has spent developing its portfolio of HIV drugs, especially in recent years, and how well their products are selling, it’s unconscionable for BMS to do this, they’ve got a lot of nerve pushing the limits with these annual price increases.”

The FPC is very concerned that the example and level of increase set by Bristol will put pressure on other companies to follow suit. “The last thing we need right now is a round of excessive price increases for these drugs, which are already extremely expensive and burdening the health care system,” said Paul Dalton of the FPC and Project Inform, a prominent activist group. “Even though the increase to government payers is limited to the increases in the Consumer Price Index, these increases affect the co-pays that patients must pay out of pocket. The price hikes also put pressure on other companies to levy similar increases, triggering round after round of price escalation.”

Nearly every other company with products for HIV takes part in pricing discussions with the Fair Pricing Coalition, which acts on behalf of the interests of hundreds of community groups. “We meet with other companies before any new drug is priced and we talk with them prior to any significant price increases,” said Delaney. “We haven’t heard a word out of Bristol in years, though we’ve been doing this work for more than a decade. The company continues to show the kind of arrogance and disregard for the public that lead to the extraordinary fines it has had to pay. We’ve already seen the price increases spread as Gilead, BMS’s partner in the combination drug Atripla which they both sell, has already raised its price to match Bristol’s.” 

In recent years, Bristol Myers Squibb has twice been accused of a major pattern of unethical business practices and has had to pay fines totaling a billion dollars.

The FPC urges the company to roll back its 2008 price increases completely, or at the very least to no more than what is warranted by the Consumer Price Index. Additionally, it  strongly recommend that they renew their communications with the Fair Pricing Coalition, the AIDS Treatment Activist Coalition (ATAC), individual community organizations and all relevant patient groups nationally and internationally.

 

The Fair Pricing Coalition is an ad hoc group of community-based activists who work on drug pricing issues with pharmaceutical companies in the field of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. The core group of the FCP is made up of experienced activists, all of whom wear multiple hats and typically speak for their own parent organizations as well as on behalf of the FCP. Many are also members of ATAC (the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition) and some are people who advocate on behalf of federal support programs, such as the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The sole focus of the FCP is drug pricing and how it impacts patients, public and private payers, and providers.

The overall goal of the Fair Pricing Coalition is to stop the upward creep in the cost of drugs. This means negotiating for prices for new drugs that are truly “cost neutral,” meaning that they will not increase the net cost of treatment. Over the longer term, the FPC fights to lower the cost of treatment by reducing the cost of drugs.