US Drugmakers Pledge Free Antibiotics for Nation

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Wednesday October 31 5:29 PM ET

US Drugmakers Pledge Free Antibiotics for Nation

By Ori Twersky

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) -The US government may soon have access to an

abundance of antibiotics, scientific experts and vaccines that could be used

to combat bioterrorism at no cost to the American public.

In a meeting with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, several US-based

pharmaceutical companies pledged on Wednesday to provide free drugs and

scientific experts to help the government keep its pledge to stockpile

enough supplies for every American.

The move follows German drugmaker Bayer AG's prior agreement to supply the

US with the antibiotic Cipro (ciprofloxin) at a reduced price of about 95

cents a tablet. Bayer committed to the agreement after it suffered a flurry

of bad publicity and threats from US lawmakers to override its patent on the

drug in order to ensure the US with an adequate supply.

The current pledge would provide the government with access to seven

additional antibiotics believed to be effective treatments for anthrax,

including two antibiotics in the same class as Cipro. These drugs are

Bristol-Myers Squibb's Tequin (gatifloxacin) and & Johson's Levaquin

(levofloxacin).

Neither antibiotic has been approved for the treatment of anthrax. But both

companies said they would give the government as many as 100 million tablets

each if the US Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) (FDA) were to

allow them to incorporate that indication on their drugs' labels.

Levaquin currently sells at about $8 per tablet wholesale and Tequin at

about $6.82 per tablet wholesale.

According to industry representatives, a similar offer was made to Secretary

of Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Tommy on October

17, when he met with the chief executives of the nation's largest

pharmaceutical makers.

``The best way to put it is that these companies wanted to repeat the pledge

to make sure he Tom Ridge understands what was being offered,'' Jeff

Trewhitt, a spokesman for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of

America (PhRMA), told Reuters Health.

PhRMA is the nation's largest representative of drugmakers.

Trewhitt added that another ten vaccine makers have now also pledged to

supply the government with enough smallpox vaccine for every American by the

end of next year, although details of that plan have yet to be worked out.

In addition, Trewhitt said PhRMA is now forming an advisory committee aimed

at bringing industry scientists together with government scientists to help

formulate a better plan for responding to bioterrorist threats.

Still, some critics have charged that the nation's drugmakers are using the

disaster as a public relations ploy aimed at improving their image.

These critics have noted that in recent years, these companies' images have

been battered by the controversy over the high cost of prescription drugs

and the seeming unwillingness of the industry to supply low-cost drugs to

elderly Americans and poor countries.

In response, Trewhitt did not contest the claims.

``We have always thought that the best public relations is doing the right

thing and getting caught,'' he told Reuters Health.

But Trewhitt added that historically American pharmaceutical firms have

always stepped up in times of crisis to help the nation.

For example, Trewhitt pointed out, Pfizer Inc. significantly increased its

production of penicillin in World War II to ensure that troops on the front

had an adequate supply.

``We are citizens of this country first,'' Trewhitt said.

As for the cost to the industry, Trewhitt said there are no rough estimates

to cite. But it would be fair to say that the costs will mount into the

millions, he told Reuters Health.