Nonprofit and advocacy group the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has spent many years lining up its sights on Gilead and its alleged “price gouging” tactics for its HIV/AIDS meds, but now another "G" is in the crosshairs: GSK.
The AHF has long dubbed Gilead as "Greedy Gilead," but now GSK has garnered a similar reputation. The foundation is urging the government of Trinidad and Tobago to consider issuing a compulsory license for GSK’s HIV treatment, Tivicay. This type of licensing occurs when a government permits another company to produce and sell a drug without the pharmaceutical company's consent. The primary purpose is to lower the price, particularly for essential medicines crucial for sustaining people's lives.
The AHF says Tivicay currently costs 25 times more than generics in neighboring Caribbean countries and is demanding this licensing process be used to help lower the cost.
Last month, the AHF and the Medical Research Foundation of Trinidad & Tobago sent a letter to GSK‘s CEO, Dame Emma Walmsley, asking her to lower the price of the drug in line with the generics, or not to threaten legal action against buying generic versions of the med.
The AHF said GSK has not yet responded, but that the British Pharma “has threatened legal action if the country decides to import affordable generics,” according to a release.
“As a small island nation, Trinidad and Tobago is still recovering from the economic and social consequences of COVID-19 – paying 25 times more to provide lifelong HIV treatment for its people is untenable,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein in a statement.
“In the face of GSK’s unwillingness to budge on pricing, we, together with our local partners, see no other option than to call on the government of Trinidad and Tobago to invoke its sovereign right to do whatever is necessary to protect its people’s health, which in this case, would include issuing a compulsory license for Tivicay.”
A GSK spokesperson told Fierce Pharma Marketing: "ViiV’s voluntary license agreements are part of its broader access strategy, which aims to accelerate access to innovative antiretrovirals like dolutegravir to deliver on its mission to leave no person living with HIV behind, wherever they live. Of the 28 million people on effective HIV treatment, 25 million are taking a dolutegravir-based regimen, the majority through our voluntary license agreements.
"ViiV’s adult voluntary licence applies to all Lower Middle-Income, Low Income, Least Developed and sub-Saharan African countries as defined by the World Bank.
"In countries like Trinidad and Tobago, which is defined by the World Bank as a high-income country, ViiV Healthcare operates a flexible pricing policy, which considers a number of factors, including but not limited to the Gross National Income of the country and the epidemic burden, but also local affordability, domestic healthcare system funding, purchasing patterns and volumes.
"ViiV and GSK have been in regular contact with the local government related to the provision of dolutegravir and remain open to continuing these discussions. We also remain committed to partnering with the government to provide broader support on education, HIV awareness, stigma mitigation programmes and testing to help support people living with HIV in Trinidad and Tobago."
This comes just a week after the AHF brought the heat to fellow AIDS/HIV drugmaker Gilead on its trip to investor conferences in Miami. The AHF used the trip as a chance to re-up an attack on “greedy Gilead,” sending its advocates to protest outside two hotels hosting the events.
The AHF has repeatedly gone after Gilead since 2021, accusing the company of taking “unlawful” actions to avoid offering its HIV drugs at a discount and highlighting an increase in the pay of CEO Daniel O'Day.
In the latest attacks, AHF advocates protested outside two hotels in Miami where Andy Dickinson, chief financial officer at Gilead, and Kite executive Cindy Perettie were talking to analysts in March.