NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

AHF Hosts Protest & "Die-in" Over Gilead's AIDS Drug Prices

The protest and "die-in" will be held near Gilead's Foster City headquarters at the corner of Lakeside Drive and East 3^rd in light of the severe crisis facing the nation's ADAPs, a network of federal and state funded programs that provide life-saving HIV treatments to low income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS nationwide. 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.

In conjunction with tomorrow's action, 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. Viewer reaction to the provocative commercial can be found at: www.facebook.com/aidshealth. One Sacramento-based member of the group's online constituency commented: "My AIDS medication Atripla alone cost $1591.88 per month. Thank God that I have help to pay for this, otherwise I would not be here to give my opinion."

As of July 28^th, 8,871 low-income AIDS patients in 13 states have been placed on waiting lists to access lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications through the nation's network of ADAPs. However, in a particularly Dickensian move, several states have also recently capped further enrollment in their ADAPs or are sharply reducing eligibility for their programs based on a percentage of Federal Poverty Level (FPL) income (in some cases cutting the FPL-eligible income from 400% to 200%), effectively denying needy patients access to medications, yet because enrollment is officially capped-or eligibility eliminated—these additional patients are never formally added to the states' ADAP waiting list rosters.

"Atripla, Gilead's top selling AIDS drug, accounts for over 20% of ADAP expenditures, generating millions in revenue for the company. However, at a cost of over $10,000 per year, ADAP can no longer afford to pay for this and other Gilead drugs without price relief," said Adam Ouderkirk, Bay Area Regional Director for AHF and a leader of the protest. "Given that Atripla is sold 'at cost' for $600 per year in developing countries, Gilead could lower the price significantly and still make a huge profit, yet it has not. We feel it is important to bring this message home to federal employees, as hard-hit government-funded programs like ADAP bare the brunt of Gilead's greed."

Background on ADAP

With state budgets stretched thin and increasing numbers of unemployed workers without health insurance, many states have been forced to cap enrollment in their AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. Currently, there are nearly 8,600 individuals on waiting lists to receive lifesaving AIDS medications in thirteen states. Hundreds of patients in need are being added to the waiting list each week. In addition, thousands more Americans living with HIV/AIDS have been dropped from the program or made ineligible to receive medications through ADAP due to stricter eligibility requirements.

Nationwide, ADAPs serve over 165,000 people, accounting for one third of people on AIDS treatment in the U.S. Unfortunately, the need for these programs expands every year, as more and more people become infected and diagnosed with HIV/AIDS; each year thousands of newly diagnosed HIV patients turn to ADAPs because they cannot afford their medicines.

"Our intention with actions like this protest today is to encourage Gilead to reflect on its own remarkable mission and history as a very different sort of drug company," said Jessie Gruttadauria, AHF's Director of Public Affairs/Interim Director, Public Health Division. "The nation's network of AIDS Drug Assistance Programs face desperate circumstances because of high prices for drugs like Gilead's Atripla. AHF is willing to work in partnership with Gilead toward solutions for ADAP and to create and foster dialogue with the community, but we will not rest and never stop should companies like Gilead continue to pursue pricing and policies that conflict with the greater good and health and well-being of the public."

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and services to more than 168,000 individuals in 27 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region and Eastern Europe. www.aidshealth.org

AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Lori Yeghiayan
AHF Assoc. Dir. of Communications
323-308-1834, 323-377-4312
loriy@aidshealth.org
or
Ged Kenslea
AHF Communications Director
323-308-1833, 323-791-5526
gedk@aidshealth.org