From: New Liberation News Service <nlns@igc.apc.org>
Subject: NLNS: Corporate Greed & AIDS
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 15:32:22 GMT

ASTRA: Corporate Greed Rears its Ugly Head
Tavis Barr, Left Turn

(NLNS)--In the dog-eat-dog health care system of the United states, getting 
medical treatment for AIDS is not as simple as taking the best drugs and 
hoping for a cure.  It is an economically devastating experience which 
leaves many people homeless, and most scrambling from one under-funded 
state program to another, hoping to squeeze out a few dollars when they 
can.  Leave aside the fact that many people with AIDS are unable to work, 
and only receive minimal welfare payments to sustain themselves, or the 
fact that many people with AIDS are poor to begin with.  The latest AIDS 
drugs cost enough to ruin the bank accounts of most wealthy people.
	In the hope of publicizing some of the more outrageous drug prices, 
the AIDS-rights movement has been taking direct action against Astra 
Pharmaceuticals in Westboro, Massachusetts, which produces a drug called 
Foscarnet (aka Foscavir).  Foscarnet treats CMV Retinitis, an 
opportunistic infection afflicting about 45% of all people with AIDS.  
Basically, when you get CMV, you lose your vision, then your hearing, 
and die within a year or two.  Foscarnet is one of only two treatment 
options, and the only option for the 40% of all CMV victims who cannot 
take the other CMV drug, gancyclovir.
	Astra, for starters, withheld Foscarnet from the market for two years 
after it had proven successful in clinical trials.  Companies cannot charge for 
AIDS drugs which have not been approved by the FDA, and although Astra 
was reaping profits from overseas sales of Foscarnet, it could not seem to 
produce enough to release for so-called "compassionate use" in the United 
States.
	As many AIDS activists expected, Astra suddenly found enough to 
sell when they were given FDA approval.  What we didn't really expect was 
the price tag.  The drug was marketed at $21,000 per year, and that price 
has since moved up to $24,000.  According to TAG (Treatment Activist 
Guerillas), the price may actually be closer to $30,000 for many people.  
While Astra has claimed that they need this price to cover costs, they have 
very little evidence to support this.  They claim direct costs of over $100 
million in developing Foscarnet, but according to the Wall Street Journal, 
"Total spending on all tests of the drug in the 
U.S. since 1987 probably adds up to less than $15 million, at least two-
thirds of which came from the federal 
government."  According to Clyde Crumpacker, an AIDS researcher at Beth 
Israel Hospital in Boston, "It's really very simple.  Next to lithium, this is 
the simplest drug ever approved by the FDA."  The chemical on which 
Foscavir is based was discovered in 1924, and its anti-viral effects have 
been known for over a decade.
	ACT-UP and TAG have targeted Astra in several different actions.  
They staged an "eye-in" at the Astra headquarters, during which they threw 
ping-pong balls painted as eyes at employees leaving the parking lot.  They 
even shut down the facility for a short while by chaining themselves to the 
bottoms of trucks blocking access to the building.  At the International 
AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, they threw the ashes of a man who could 
not get Foscarnet all over the Astra booth.  They have also called for a 
boycott of other Astra products, including an anesthetic commonly used by 
dentists named xylocaine.
	Unfortunately, while the Boycott may have some effect, none of 
these actions is likely to change Astra's pricing scheme significantly.  
Companies will try to maximize profits at any cost, including massive bad 
publicity.  Many unionists learned this lesson the hard way from the failure 
of "corporate campaigning" in the 1980s.  Even if Astra did cut their price in 
half, the $21,000 per year price is more the rule than the exception.  
Foscarnet at $10,000 per year would still be cheaper than the most common 
AIDS drug, AZT.  
	The only change that will make the lives of people living with AIDS 
significantly more tolerable is the introduction of a nationalized health care 
system.  As long as companies need to compete to invent new drugs, they 
cannot share the information needed to develop those drugs in a timely 
manner; and as long as their main motive it to maximize profits, they will 
not make AIDS drugs affordable.  Nevertheless, a victory against Astra 
would give the AIDS-rights movement some clout in making demands on 
other stubborn companies, such as Burroughs-Wellcome, which is refusing 
to continue several crucial tests on a drug called acyclovir.  If you're up to 
it, you can call Astra at (508) 366-1100, and give them Hell.

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