The Indian government will allow a local company to manufacture a generic version of the cancer drug Nexevar, which is currently patented by Bayer. A Common Dreams post explained that the the government’s ruling is based on a trade law that gives the government power to allow the manufacturing of generic versions of otherwise unaffordable drugs. It enables Natco Pharma to create a version of Nexevar that will cost $176 for 120 tablets. Bayer was charging about $5,600 for the same amount. Bayer spokeswoman Sabina Cusimano told the Associated Press, “We will see if we can further defend our intellectual property rights in India.”
China Considers Raising Taxes to Cut Tobacco Use
China is studying the possibility of increasing prices and tax hikes to curb tobacco consumption, reports China Radio International. A senior official with the country’s tobacco use regulator, Miao Wei, Minister of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and a deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC), says the effects of raising tobacco prices in order to curb tobacco use need to be tested in practice, given that tobacco prices and the tax on tobacco are already at a high level in China. Miao earlier admitted that more efforts are needed to control tobacco use and curb the number of smokers, which in China is now 350 million.
Corporations Transfer Environmental Costs to Society
A new report by KPMG, the international the audit, tax and advisory firm, calculated that if companies had to pay for the full environmental costs of their production, they would lose 41 cents for every US$1 in earnings on average. The report, “Expect the Unexpected: Building Business Value in a Changing World,” explores issues such as climate change, energy and fuel volatility, water availability and cost and resource availability, as well as population growth spawning new urban centers.
China National Tobacco Reports Higher Profit than Wal-Mart’s
China National Tobacco Corp., that nation’s cigarette monopoly, may be larger by annual profit than Wal-Mart Stores Inc. according to a rare release of the company’s financial data, reports Bloomberg News. The state-owned tobacco company had net income of 117.7 billion yuan ($18.7 billion) in 2010 on sales of 770.4 billion yuan. Industrial Bank Co. released the figures in a statement last week because China National Tobacco is buying a 5.2 billion yuan stake in the Shanghai-listed lender. China National Tobacco made more in profit in 2010 than the combined total for Philip Morris International Inc. (PM), British American Tobacco Plc (BATS), and Altria Group, Inc., the world’s three- biggest listed tobacco companies, according to the figures.
Occupy Wall Street Visits Pfizer
Occupy Wall Street protesters marched around midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, February 29, chanting anti-corporate slogans outside banks and the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, reported the Wall Street Journal. Protesters awarded Pfizer a prize for “Excellence in Profiteering,” noting the discrepancy between the wealthy pharmaceutical company and the millions of uninsured Americans who cannot afford health care.
Fighting Big Tobacco in Indonesia
Mardiyah Chamim has authored a new book “A Giant Pack of Lies,” that describes the marketing and lobbying practices of Indonesia’s powerful tobacco industry, part of an intensifying campaign to control tobacco use in Indonesia. The author compares that nation’s current attitude toward smoking to that of the United States in the 1930s, arguing that the country is decades behind in raising public awareness of the dangers of tobacco use and forcing the industry to take responsibility for its harmful impact on public health. Earlier this year, Vanguard documentary film maker Chrishof Putzel exposed the ways that Indonesian tobacco marketers target children.
Patients Say FDA Lets Big Pharma Create Artificial Drug Shortages
Two dozen people suffering from life-threatening Fabry disease, a rare condition caused by deficiencies in an enzyme needed to metabolize lipids, say the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services give drug manufacturers carte blanche to create drug shortages that deny them the medicine that keeps them alive, reports Courthouse News. Twenty-five people sued the agencies in Federal Court on constitutional claims. Most of the plaintiffs say they are being denied interstate access to Fabrazyme, a drug that treats Fabry disease, due to a shortage created by Genzyme, the drug’s manufacturer, but not a party to the case. They seek an injunction ordering the government to take the enforcement actions and they want the drug companies to disgorge profits unjustly created by drug shortages and fined for creating shortages.
Alcohol Industry Reaching for New Markets in Asia
As the European market decreases, big alcohol companies are searching for new Asian markets. Unregulated markets and big populations promise new opportunities for growth. Bloomberg Businessweek describes how Carlsberg, “the world’s fourth- biggest brewer, is seeking acquisition opportunities in Asia, including China, amid slowing growth in Europe.”
Campaign Against Retail Marketing of Tobacco to Youth
The New York chapter of the American Lung Association has launched a campaign to reduce aggressive retail marketing of tobacco to youth in New York City. A video shows local youth from Queens leading decision makers and the media on a tour of the rampant tobacco advertising they encounter. In New York State, the tobacco industry spends $1 million every day to market its products.
Pharma Looks for Digital Marketing Edge
At the recent ePharma Summit in NYC, Charlotte McKines, Global Vice President, Marketing Communications and Channel Strategies, Merck & Co, spoke on “How Digital is Transforming the Pharmaceutical Marketing Model.” She noted, “Customers are increasingly looking for information using digital to get information so you see… most of our customers, physicians, use the web to gather information, but more importantly they use the non-pharmaceutical sites to get information about our products. They really don’t have a lot of trust and value right now in pharmaceutical sites. So we really struggle… to really become a primary trusted source. We have got to get there because finding the right place and being in the right destination for our customers really does give us the competitive advantage.”
Corporations and Health Watch 