Big Pharma’s new Africa plan

Unless delegates to a high-profile summit on diabetes in Kenya last week knew it had been paid for by the world’s biggest maker of insulin, they would have been none the wiser when they left. The conference, in the lush surroundings of a four-star hotel outside Nairobi and attended by ministers from three African governments, eminent scientists and health policy specialists, was organised by the World Diabetes Foundation, a private fund set up in 2002 by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk. (…) Another company which has built a bigger presence than most in the developing world is Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline. GSK, the world’s largest supplier of Aids drugs, was a high-profile target in the outcry over the South African lawsuit. Since then, it has transformed many of its policies, including taking one of the most difficult decisions for a drugs company, relaxing its intellectual property rights under certain circumstances. GSK is the only major drugs company which manufactures products in East Africa, which means it has more leverage with the government because of the jobs it has created, according to John Musunga, GSK’s general manager in the region. (…) As well as GSK, Switzerland’s Novartis has made its malaria drug, Coartem, available in many countries at cost. Meanwhile, Roche, also Swiss, has sacrificed some profits on Tamiflu to make it available to the poor. Critics say companies could do far more. They also point out that drugs companies are still bringing controversial cases against developing countries over patents. Novartis has been criticised by Oxfam for a continuing case against the Indian government over its cancer medicine, Glivec. Image source: telegraph.co.uk

News selected by Covalence | Region: Africa | Company: Novo Nordisk, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Roche | Source: Telegraph.co.uk