AHF sues GSK for failing to provide discounts on HIV/AIDS drugs

The USA-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) said yesterday (September 10) that it has filed a law suit in California against UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) alleging that the company “…failed to fully satisfy its obligations with respect to discounts for drugs it sold to AIDS Healthcare Foundation over a period of many years,” under the 340B Program,  a federal drug discount program designed to stretch scarce federal resources as far as possible for community health care providers such as AHF.

The action against GSK includes claims of “Violation of California Unfair Competition Law, Breach of Contract - Third Party Beneficiary, Negligence, Unjust Enrichment and Breach of Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing.”

According to the law suit, the AHF is seeking to, “…force GSK to refund/disgorge the money that AHF overpaid it for drugs that should have been furnished to AHF at discounted rates, but were not. AHF is entitled to this relief based on several legal grounds, including statutory, contractual and equitable theories. GSK should not be permitted to effectively refuse to comply with its respective obligations under the law with respect to 340B Program covered drugs without consequence and thereby deprive AHF of funds that it would use to benefit the needy patients it serves.”