Healthy Skepticism Library item: 7362

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Publication type: news

Reuters .
Sanofi head criticises generic drug makers - FT
Reuters 2007 Jan 1
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2007-01-02T002349Z_01_L01877577_RTRIDST_0_SANOFI-CHAIRMAN.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna

Full text:

LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) – The chairman of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile , Research) has attacked generic drug manufacturers from the developing world for failing to focus on making medicines affordable in their own countries, according to a published report.

In an interview in Tuesday’s Financial Times newspaper, Jean-Francois Dehecq, citing examples from India, Thailand and Indonesia, criticised generic companies for paying wages of “three times nothing” to staff in the developing world and then exporting rather than selling their low-cost medicines locally.

“They make (drugs) very cheaply and bring them to the north for people who can already pay,” Dehecq was quoted as saying.

“It’s a scandal. They are exploiting people in the south. They should deal with their own countries first,” he added.

Generic drugs typically are much cheaper than their brand-name counterparts.