AHF accuses Bristol-Myers Squibb of lying about cooperation with HIV/AIDS community

Today AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) responded to a statement placed by drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) on its website defending its record on AIDS drug pricing and accessibility. AHF, the largest global AIDS organization, accuses the company of lying about its cooperation with the HIV/AIDS community and refutes the following claim made by BMS: "For last 20 years, Bristol-Myers Squibb has worked collaboratively with the HIV/AIDS community to help meet the needs of people living with this disease, and we are committed to helping ensure that people living with HIV and AIDS have access to our medicines."

"AHF has repeatedly pointed out to BMS that the high price of its drug Reyataz is contributing to a crisis that has left thousands of patients without access to lifesaving AIDS treatment," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "For BMS to claim that it is working cooperatively with the HIV/AIDS community and 'improving access to medicines' while simultaneously refusing to step up and join the other pharmaceutical companies in offering discounts to struggling state AIDS programs is absurd. It's a lie that simply cannot be tolerated by anyone who cares about people living with HIV/AIDS."

With state budgets stretched thin and increasing numbers of unemployed workers without health insurance, an AIDS drug crisis has gripped the nation. Numerous states have been forced to cap enrollment in their AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), which provide medications to low-income Americans living with the disease. Currently, there are 2,158 individuals in thirteen states on waiting lists to receive lifesaving AIDS medications. And the waiting lists are growing by hundreds of people each week.

BMS remains the only major AIDS drug manufacturer to refuse to offer discounts. At $13,000 per patient per year, BMS' Reyataz is one of the most expensive first-line AIDS treatments on the market.

Merck and Company, Johnson & Johnson's Tibotec Therapeutics, Gilead Sciences Inc., Viiv Healthcare (a new drug company formed in a partnership between GSK and Pfizer) and Abbott Labs have all offered significant discounts and pricing concessions to cash-strapped ADAPs.