AIDS Group Bars Glaxo Marketing

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, one of the largest providers of specialized care for HIV patients in the United States, said it will bar GlaxoSmithKline from marketing drugs at its outpatient sites to protest the company’s pricing policies.

Although the Britain-based company offers reduced prices for AIDS drugs sold in the developing world, the foundation claims the drug manufacturer still charges twice as much as its competitors--an allegation GlaxoSmithKline counters by saying it makes no profit on those sales.

By barring GlaxoSmithKline sales representatives from its physicians’ offices, the foundation hopes to block the main channel the company uses to inform doctors directly about new products.

“Glaxo’s actions have put it outside the bounds of corporate responsibility,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the foundation that serves thousands of patients in California, New York and Florida.

Many pharmaceutical companies discount drugs in the developing world, and GlaxoSmithKline acknowledges that some generic AIDS drugs sell in the developing world for half the price of its comparable products.

But the company said it has reduced prices by as much as 90% and does not make money on AIDS medications it sells to the developing world.

“You have to cover your basic costs of manufacturing,” spokeswoman Nancy Pekarek said. “You can’t just give it away for the long term. You have to ensure there’s going to be a stable supply.”

Pekarek said she did not expect the foundation’s move to have any effect on the company’s sales force.

GlaxoSmithKline charges $2 for a day’s supply of Combivir tablets, a combination of the drugs AZT and 3TC. A generic version costs about $1. In the United States, the list price for Combivir is $17.23 a day, Pekarek said.