Colombia battles world's biggest drugmaker over cancer drug

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Colombia battles world's biggest drugmaker over cancer drug

Joshua Goodman and Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press

Updated 2:39 pm, Wednesday, May 18, 2016

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's government is giving pharmaceutical giant Novartis a few weeks to lower prices on a popular cancer drug or see its monopoly on production of the medicine broken and competition thrown open to generic rivals.

Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria's remarks in an interview Tuesday are the strongest yet in an increasingly public fight with the world's biggest drugmaker that could set a precedent for middle-income countries grappling to contain rising prices for complex drugs.

Memos leaked last week to a nonprofit group, written from the Colombian Embassy in Washington, describe intense lobbying pressure on Colombia, a staunch U.S. ally, from the pharmaceutical industry and its allies in the U.S. Congress.

In one memo, the embassy warns that breaking Novartis' patent for the leukemia drug Gleevec could hurt U.S. support for Colombia's bid to join the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade zone and even jeopardize $450 million in U.S. assistance for a peace deal with leftist rebels. The memos followed meetings between Colombian diplomats and officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and a Republican staffer on the Senate Finance Committee whose chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, has close ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/medical/article/Colombia-battles-world-s-biggest-drugmaker-over-7571870.php

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombia's Battle With a Cancer Drug Company Could Set a Global Precedent for Generic Meds

Colombia's Battle With a Cancer Drug Company Could Set a Global Precedent for Generic Meds

By Alan Hernández

May 19, 2016 | 3:35 pm

Colombia has told pharmaceutical giant Novartis that unless it lowers the price of one of its cancer medications by the end of the month, it will lose the monopoly of the market in the country that it currently enjoys.

The government's tough stance on the cancer medication imatinib — which is commercially sold as Gilvec or Gleevec — has been applauded by activists who say it could set a precedent that could start to improve access to expensive drugs throughout the world.

James Love, the director of Knowledge Ecology International, an US-based NGO that campaigns for a more equal distribution of knowledge resources, told VICE News that the Colombian effort to bring down the prices of the drug would have an impact way beyond its borders.

"It is going to be consequential in terms of price, especially in other South American nations, where the goal is to build a universal healthcare system," Love said. "It would mean imatinib would be more accessible than ever in other parts of the world."

More:
https://news.vice.com/article/colombias-battle-with-a-cancer-drug-company-could-set-a-global-precedent-for-generic-meds