Africa-bound AIDS drugs resold illegally

Reduced-price antiretroviral drugs intended for Africans are turning up in European pharmacies and in private clinics in Africa, undermining a 2-year-old UN program to provide medicine to people with AIDS/HIV living in the world's poorest nations.

In October, Dutch officials announced that 36 000 boxes of lamivudine–zidovudine (Combivir) and lamivudine (Epivir), with a market value of around US$15 million, had been reshipped from Africa and resold to unsuspecting customers in the Netherlands and Germany. The antiretroviral drugs were marketed at more than 4 times the price intended by the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline. A box of lamivudine–zidovudine priced at US$88 in Africa was being sold for $390 in Europe.

The illegal trade was first detected by Belgian customs agents, who raised questions about a shipment sent from Senegal to a Dutch wholesaler in Antwerp. The drugs, originally packaged in French, had been relabelled in Dutch and sold to a second Dutch distributor.

A Glaxo spokesman said that some of the Africa-bound drugs may never have left Europe, and the company is going to review its distribution and packaging methods.

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, which called for urgent action, warned that the unscrupulous practices were jeopardizing drug companies' participation in the program.

Meanwhile, Ugandan health authorities said part of a 290 000-pill shipment of fluconazole (Diflucan) donated by Pfizer was being sold illegally on the open market. Health Minister Jim Muhwezi said Uganda has asked the World Health Organization to audit distribution of the drug in the country. He warned that the illegal trade might hurt “the commitment and goodwill of Pfizer and other donors to support the poor in Africa.” — Mary Helen Spooner, West Sussex, UK