AIDS advocates to protest over Gilead’s pricing of Atripla for nation’s hard-hit AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP); Participants Will Wear Skeleton Masks, Dress in All-Black, Carry a Coffin in Memory of Those Who Have Died While on ADAP Waitlists
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Scores of AIDS advocates are expected to participate in a protest and “die-in” hosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), today, Thursday, August 18th, at 4:00 PM near the Foster City headquarters of Gilead Sciences Inc. to protest the company’s pricing of its HIV/AIDS medications. The protestors will be carrying banners and handmade signs with the message: “Gilead, do the right thing!” while wearing skeleton masks. Dressed in funeral-black they will carry a 4 ft. X 2½ ft. coffin in memory of those who have died of AIDS while on AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waitlists.
AIDS advocates at a previous "die-in" and protest in front of Gilead's headquarters in Foster City, CA over the company's drug prices. (Photo: Business Wire)
The protest and “die-in” will be held near Gilead’s Foster City headquarters at the corner of Lakeside Drive and East 3rd in light of the severe crisis facing the nation’s ADAPs. More than 9,200 individuals are now on waiting lists to receive lifesaving medications in twelve states through ADAPs and hundreds more have been rendered ineligible for assistance due to eligibility restrictions undertaken by states to control costs. The advocates’ goal is to raise public awareness and educate community members—including Gilead employees—regarding the steep prices that government programs are paying for Gilead’s blockbuster HIV/AIDS drug, Atripla (efavirenz & tenofovir & emtricitabine)—currently $10,000 per patient, per year for ADAP.
| WHAT: |
“Die-in” & Protest of Gilead’s AIDS Drug Prices |
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4:00 PM Pacific Time—near Gilead Sciences’ Foster City Headquarters |
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WHEN: |
THURSDAY, August 18th, 2011, 4:00 PM |
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| WHERE: |
At the corner of Lakeside and East 3rdin Foster City |
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Near Gilead Sciences Headquarters (333 Lakeside Drive, Foster City, CA 94404) |
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| CONTACTS: |
Lori Yeghiayan, AHF Assoc. Dir. of Communications, (323) 377-4312 cell or (323) 308-1834 office |
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Eileen Garcia, AHF Community Outreach Manager, (213) 399-7263 cell |
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AIDS Healthcare Foundation has also released a 30-second television commercial: “Gilead: AIDS Drug Prices to Die For.” The ad, now running on MSNBC and CNN in San Francisco, Foster City and surrounding areas, urges the company to lower prices immediately and directs viewers to send an eletter to Gilead CEO John Martin by visiting www.2gilead.org.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the US’ largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 180,000 individuals in 27 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and the Asia Pacific Region. www.aidshealth.org
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6833719&lang=en
CONTACT:
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Lori Yeghiayan
AHF Assoc. Dir. of Communications
(323) 308-1834, (323) 377-4312
[email protected]
or
Eileen Garcia
AHF Community Outreach Manager
(213) 399-7263 cell
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health AIDS Infectious Diseases Pharmaceutical FDA Consumer Gay & Lesbian General Health
MEDIA:
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| AIDS advocates at a previous "die-in" and protest in front of Gilead's headquarters in Foster City, CA over the company's drug prices. (Photo: Business Wire) |