Merck slammed over drug pricing

In another swipe at US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK), the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has launched a new advocacy campaign calling for the drug company to lower its prices for cash-strapped AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs).

Last year, in a protest at the higher price of the firm’s HIV/AIDS drug Isentress (raltegravir), the AHF placed train station banner advertisements hanging from light poles on the platform of the train station in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, Merck’s hometown, reading: “Merck: Do the Right Thing.” It also banned Merck’s sales representative from its clinics (The Pharma Letter February 17, 2010).

The campaign comes days after Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), the largest manufacturer of AIDS drugs in the USA, announced it has agreed to provide additional discounts to the programs, says the AHF. Gilead is the second company, following Boehringer Ingelheim, to agree to additional discounts for ADAPs.