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Boehringer Ingelheim rejects MSF`s claims

26 Jan 2001 - Boehringer Ingelheim officially replied to letters from Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) /(Doctors without Borders) sent to many of the Boehringer Ingelheim operating units worldwide demanding that the price of VIRAMUNE® should be reduced by 95 per cent for developing countries or that voluntary licenses be granted to developing countries where Boehringer Ingelheim holds patent rights for this drug.
 
Boehringer Ingelheim shares MSF`s strong, unwavering commitment to the goal of accelerating access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment in the developing world. It is with this commitment in mind that the company is participating in an innovative public-private partnership together with four other pharmaceutical companies, several United Nations agencies, and the World Bank. As part of the Accelerating Access Initiative, the participating companies agreed to supply their anti-retroviral drugs to interested developing countries at more affordable prices.
 
Two countries, Senegal and Uganda, have reached agreement in the meantime with several originator companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim, to obtain anti-retroviral medications at significantly reduced prices. The price of VIRAMUNE® offered to these countries for chronic treatment is lower than that of generic nevirapine that is currently available in certain markets worldwide. By purchasing products from the originator, it is guaranteed that the drugs invariably meet high quality standards and that the future supply of the drugs will meet the worldwide demand.
 
As further evidence of our commitment to doing our part in the worldwide fight against HIV/AIDS in the developing world and in light of the priorities that have to be met to allow developing countries to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic on a nation-wide scale, Boehringer Ingelheim took a decisive step forward and offered to supply VIRAMUNE® free of charge for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) in developing economies. First supplies of drugs have already been made to the Republic of Congo and to Senegal.
 
Finally, Boehringer Ingelheim continues to invest heavily in the company’s ongoing research and development efforts to discover new and innovative drugs to treat patients with HIV/AIDS. It is our belief that the protection of international property rights on a worldwide basis is the incentive for the research-based pharmaceutical industry to further invest in the activities necessary to bring new and essential medicines to patients who can benefit from them.
 
The affordability of essential drugs, including antiretrovirals, is an issue for developing countries. It is, however, only one among many obstacles to increasing access to quality care and treatment. In order to ensure the rational, safe and effective use of HIV drugs, several requirements have to be met, including reinforcement of the national health care infrastructure, availability of secure distribution systems, HIV-prevention and information programmes and sustainable healthcare financing. The complexity of the problem requires a multi-sectorial effort, with each participant contributing their part.
 
Boehringer Ingelheim has invited MSF to cooperate with all parties with a genuine interest in generating the conditions necessary to expand access to prevention, care and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS. We appreciate the humanitarian engagement of MSF, however, we are concerned by their continued emphasis on the issue of price as the primary barrier to increasing access to essential medicines. By focusing attention only on the question of price, proposals such as that of MSF dangerously deflect attention from the multifaceted nature of the problems that must be addressed, as well as the need for all stakeholders to contribute their part, in order to reach effective and sustainable approaches to the HIV/AIDS epide