Glaxo's Dilemma

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how corporations have a responsibility to their shareholders and employees to earn a profit and remain solvent. Yet, pharmaceutical companies can save lives if innovative drugs are made affordable and accessible to populations in dire medical need. The paper describes the AIDS crisis in impoverished regions of Africa that highlights this ethical bind for GlaxoSmithKline. The paper discusses how GlaxoSmithKline has attempted to block access to less-costly generic versions of its top-selling AIDS medicine.

From the Paper:

"In sub-Saharan Africa 25 million people are infected with HIV. Glaxo has offered to sell its anti-retroviral drug Combivir to Senegal and Uganda for $2 a day, which is much less than the drug sells for in the U.S. But the company "admits that this price is still well above what most Kenyans can afford and it will benefit at most 20,000 HIV positive people out of an estimated 2.1 million" ("Glaxo: Cheap AIDS Drugs are not enough," 2001, BBC). The Indian company, Cipla Ltd. of Bombay, has an even lower-cost drug which it can and has made available to afflicted Africans, but Glaxo believes that this is in violation of World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations regarding its patent on the drug's chemical components, highlighting the difficulties of determining trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) that transcend borders regarding drug patents."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Boseley, Sarah (6 Sept. 2002). "Glaxo cuts AIDS drug prices in Africa." The Guardian.Retrieved 20 Jan 2007 at http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,786919,00.html
• "Glaxo: Cheap AIDS drugs not enough." (25 May 2001) BBC News.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1351153.stm
• "HIV Drugs for Africa Diverted to Europe. (3 Oct 2002). Centers for Disease Control.International News. Retrieved 20 Jan 2007 at http://www.thebody.com/cdc/news_updates_archive/oct3_02/hiv_drugs.html
• Samson, Kurt Samson. (17 Mar 2001). "Glaxo says no more cut in AIDS drug price." United Press International. Retrieved 20 Jan 2007 at http://www.aegis.com/news/upi/2001/UP010313.html
• Schoofs, Mark. (1 Dec 2000) "Glaxo Attempts to Block Access To Generic AIDS Drugs in Ghana.The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 Jan 2007 at http://survivreausida.net/a4596-glaxo-attempts-to-block-access-to-generic-ai.html

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