AHF targets BMS over pricing and policies for its HIV/AIDS drug

AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

“We're here to let people know that BMS is causing great harm to people with HIV/AIDS with its unwarranted pricing of Reyataz”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a protest Wednesday morning, May 12^th at 10:30am targeting New York-based Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) over the pricing and policies for its key HIV/AIDS drug, Reyataz, one of the most expensive first-line AIDS treatment in the US, during the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch 2010 Health Care Conference. The protest will take place starting at 10:30am in front of the Grand Hyatt—New York (109 East 42^nd Street at Grand Central Terminal), where the conference is being held. The protest is scheduled to occur in advance of an investment presentation being delivered by BMS executives at 10:40 AM Wednesday morning during the conference. BMS' growth in 2009 and Q1 2010 has been attributed to its sales of Reyataz and its other AIDS drugs. Reyataz sales have increased 20% in recent quarters. Overall, 2009 sales for Reyataz were $1.29 billion.

As federally-funded, state-run AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) try to provide AIDS drugs to an increasing number of low-income people in need, the steep price of such lifesaving drugs is becoming a more crucial issue. The Average Wholesale Price (AWP) for Reyataz (atazanavir) stands at $13,046 per-year. By contrast, other commonly prescribed first-line AIDS drugs are priced $3,000 to $5,400 less. Moreover, BMS has increased the price of Reyataz year over year; since it was first approved in 2003, the price of Reyataz has increased by over 25%. AHF officials note that Reyataz must be taken with at least two other HIV/AIDS drugs as part of an effective antiretroviral (ARV) treatment regimen.

"By pricing Reyataz up to two and a half times more than other AIDS drugs, Bristol Myers Squibb is placing greed above people's lives," said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President, in a statement. "At $13,000 per patient per year, it is the cost of drugs like Reyataz that threatens to bankrupt state programs like ADAP, harming the patients who rely on such programs for the lifesaving medications they need. We reiterate our call on BMS to do the right thing and immediately lower the price of Reyataz."

AHF protestors will carry signs and banners stating, "How do you spell GREED? BMS" and hand out a flyers with background on BMS' pricing, christening the company with a new name: "Big Money Scheme."

"We're here to let people know that BMS is causing great harm to people with HIV/AIDS with its unwarranted pricing of Reyataz," said Jessie Gruttaudaria, Public Affairs Director for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "ADAP is the lifeblood for thousands of people AIDS who are uninsured and cannot afford their medications. This cannot continue. BMS should lower the price of Reyataz immediately."

AHF has seen firsthand the impact of high priced AIDS drug like Reyataz. In California, for example, since 2000 the number of new ADAP clients has only increased by 50%, but AIDS drug spending has increased by 165%. New data released by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) regarding ADAPs supports the need for drug company price cuts. The National ADAP Monitoring Project Annual Report notes: "Drug spending by ADAPs has increased more than seven-fold (617%) since 1996, more than twice the rate of client growth over this same period." This startling statistic demonstrates that a large percentage of ADAP funding increases are being applied toward rising drug costs, instead of to increasing the number of patients accessing lifesaving AIDS medication.

Background on AHF Advocacy on BMS' Drug Pricing

AHF recently reached out directly to BMS asking the company to lower the price of Reyataz. In a letter to BMS' CEO dated March 30, 2010, AHF President Michael Weinstein states: "Across the country, states have been forced to make cuts to ADAP services and enrollment because of high cost AIDS drugs like Reyataz. States can no longer afford to provide treatment to many of their current ADAP clients, and as costs increase more people will be put at risk of losing access to services. Ultimately, this means that the more people who go on high-priced Reyataz, the fewer who can receive services."

AHF officials also brought their concerns to the attention of the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS)—one of the largest public pension funds in the nation and a long-term owner of BMS stock, with more than 7 million shares currently worth over $190 million dollars. The investment fund sent a letter of inquiry to BMS regarding concern about the impact of the price of Reyataz.

In the letter, CalSTRS' director of corporate governance states: "…we would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this matter with BMS as well as the accommodations that your company makes to the many state programs that provide this drug to this patient population. AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) are a lifeline for low income patients in the State of California and elsewhere in the country and the ADAP programs necessarily depend on companies like BMS to support them in their efforts to reach the greatest number of patients in the HIV/AIDS community."