[e-drug] class action on Bayer's ciprofloxacin price

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E-DRUG: class action on Bayer's ciprofloxacin price
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KEYCODE BAYER #46

KEYCODE BAYER is published by the German group Coalition against
BAYER-dangers which has been monitoring the BAYER Corporation for more than
20 years.

BAYER, ANTHRAX AND CIPRO - SELECTED INFORMATION

Gilman and Pastor, LLP, is prosecuting a nationwide class action on behalf
of all persons or entities in the United States who purchased and/or paid
for Cipro at any time since January 8, 1997. Cipro is a brand-name for the
prescription drug ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, an antibiotic approved to
treat various sinus, respiratory, urinary and skin infections.
"We allege that beginning on January 8, 1997, Bayer AG entered into unlawful
and anti-competitive agreements with Barr Laboratories, Inc. and Hoechst
Marion Roussel, Inc. under which, in exchange for over $50 million per year,
Barr and Hoechst Marion Roussel agreed not to manufacture or market a
generic version of Cipro. These agreements allowed Bayer to maintain a
monopoly over the ciprofloxacin market as well as to fix and maintain
supra-competitive process for Cipro. As a result of the unlawful agreements,
Plaintiffs and the Class have been deprived of the ability to purchase
generic ciprofloxacin at a competitive price.


Selected Prices for 500 mg tabs of Ciprofloxacin (US$)
Price per pill (Revised October 21, 2001)

USA Bayer wholesale 4.67
USA Bayer best federal government 1.83
Canada Bayer/government 1.58
Canada Apotext/government .95
NZ Bayer/retail 1.29
South Africa/government 2.10
India generic 1.6 Rs = .03
Poland Bayer 1.51
Poland Polfa Grodzisk generic .29


Letter from Ralph Nader, James Love to Secretary Thompson Regarding
Ciprofloxacin

Dear Secretary Thompson:
We were shocked by your comments in the October 17, 2001 Washington Post,
indicating that you do not have the legal authority to authorize generic
production of ciprofloxacin, a drug used to treat victims of an anthrax
attack. This, of course, is not true. As your own staff is well aware, you
may use 28 USC 1498 to issue compulsory licenses for patents, and you could
immediately authorize the five companies who have already satisfied U.S. FDA
requirements for the quality of their products to speed the manufacturer of
ciprofloxacin, and indeed this could and should be done for any other
medicine needed to confront the current crisis. (.)

Bayer, the giant German pharmaceutical firm, currently markets ciprofloxacin
on an exclusive basis in the United States. Drug stores are charging in some
cases more than $700 for a two month's supply of medicine that can be
obtained for as little as $20 in some foreign county generic markets, and
now it seeks to be the exclusive company that can supply 1.2 billion pills
to the federal government. Bayer stands to make hundreds of millions if not
billions of dollars in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attack on
Americans.

In the absence of adequate government stockpiles, families who cannot afford
the hundreds of dollars per month per family member for ciprofloxacin risk
not having access to this product, should the need arise. This is an
unethical and unnecessary form of rationing. Some government officials and
those who can afford the high prices have secure supplies of ciprofloxacin.
It is your duty to see that all taxpayers and especially those who are less
affluent are protected, and are protected as soon as is possible, not as
soon as it is possible for one firm, Bayer, to supply the market. And it
would make sense to have redundant sources of supply, for all of the obvious
reasons.

More generally, you need to be forward looking, should other cases arise
with similar constraints on the access to medicines, and you need to find
ways to obtain whatever medicines may be needed. You need to provide a
framework for acquisition of needed medicines, including the steps that will
be taken to address issues of pricing and affordability. (.)

Your official responsibility is to protect the public's health, and not to
defend large profiteering pharmaceutical companies, which are already making
a fortune because of our country's current problems. How do you define the
patriotic choice here?

Sincerely,
Ralph Nader, James Love


10/22/2001
The San Francisco Chronicle
SUPPOSE THERE was a magic-bullet drug that could knock out a looming fatal
disease. Would it make sense to let pharmaceutical firms crank out millions
of extra pills, or stick with the one licensed manufacturer to rev up the
supply line? This is the choice facing Washington with the patented Cipro,
an antibiotic that can quell anthrax.

Washington should be devising an insurance policy against disaster, but
instead we're getting foot-dragging. The reason is clear. Cipro is a drug
licensed by Bayer, which has refused to allow rivals to sell generic
knockoffs. Bayer promises to step up production threefold, but it wants to
keep control, saying any change in the rules would undercut the rewards of
developing new drugs.

The Bush administration says it has pushed Bayer for extra Cipro supplies,
but has refused to override patent laws, which it could arguably do. That's
a shortsighted, even dangerous, approach. Canada, with no cases of anthrax,
has authorized a generic drug maker to make a Cipro copy. It's a responsible
move that should quell public anxiety and prepare for trouble.
Washington's hesitancy has other sources. If drug licensing laws are
suspended for Cipro, what about big-ticket AIDS drugs? Countries such as
Brazil, South Africa and India are challenging American drugmakers, either
in court or by open defiance, to permit cheaper copycat drugs. Allowing
Cipro generics may embolden these challenges and prompt other groups to
protest high drug prices.

But Washington has bigger worries. It must calm a climate of fear, worsened
partly by muddled official reactions, including the House's hasty
adjournment after an anthrax scare. Capitol Hill became a ghost town, a
specter that sends a message of weakness and fright.
Our leaders need to set an example of tough-mindedness out of Washington.
That means staying on the job and standing up to the powerful drug industry.


CBG/Coordination against BAYER-dangers collects information about BAYER and
coordinates activities against violations of human and environmental rights
caused by this company. Anyone who has information on possibly illicit
activities of BAYER - please let us know. Anyone who needs photos or
information concerning BAYER is invited to contact us:

CBG/Coordination against BAYER-dangers, Postfach 15 04 18, 40081
Duesseldorf, Germany
E-mail: CBGnetwork@aol.com
website: www.CBGnetwork.org
Fax: (+49) 211 333 940  Tel: (+49) 211 333 911


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