Doctors of the World launch a shock campaign against generic drug prices.

Doctors of the World's "The Price of Life" campaign starts today despite censorship from billboard companies.

"Each year in France cancer brings in 2.4 billion euros", "an influenza epidemic in December, it is the end-of-year bonus that falls," "1 billion euros in profit, l 'hepatitis C we live with it very well. Shocking and cynical sentences abound on the side of Medicine du monde. For their latest poster campaign, "The price of life," the NGO is attacking the very high prices of drugs practiced by the pharmaceutical industry and invites people to sign a petition.

In question, the exorbitant price of drugs, according to the NGO, leads to rationing. This innovative treatment against Hepatitis C currently costs 40,000 € per patient. With around 230,000 people affected by this virus, treating all sick would cost more than 9 billion euros. "At these prices, social security cannot afford to reimburse everyone," explains Olivier Maguey, head of the "Price of drugs and health system" campaign, of which "The price of life" is a component. He adds: "So we find ourselves in the same situation as Mozambique or Zambia: we cannot treat people because we do not have enough money. We must make people aware of this incredible situation".

However, don't expect to see the "The Price of Life" campaign posters plastered in the metro or bus stops. They will only be visible via wild posting, social networks, and the press. The three poster companies approached by Medicines du Monde to relay "The price of life" refused.

Media Transport justifies this decision on two grounds: "The risk of negative reactions from the pharmaceutical industry to these posters" as well as "the reference to serious illnesses which could be perceived as shocking by people suffering from these posters. pathologies". JCDecaux shares the second reason and adds "an absence of sources." The companies say they follow the recommendations of the Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority, which issues more than 15,000 recommendations to the media each year. Insert, the third company, could not be contacted.

For its part, the drug companies denounce "the deceptive propaganda campaign of Medicines du Monde" by arguing that these slogans "are not only offensive for manufacturers, they are also particularly shocking and disrespectful for the millions of people who are fighting. daily against disease".

The industry is not the campaign's primary target.

"This is the first time that Medicine du Monde has been censored," says Olivier Maguey. This shows that we are pressing where it hurts. However, this is quite ironic; nowhere on the posters do we mention a laboratory or drug name. We have nothing against the pharmaceutical industry, we need their drugs, and we respect their logic of profit. It is not them that we mainly target; it is the State! Because he lets it go".

To alleviate the exorbitant note implied by Osvaldo, Marisol Touraine announced last month universal access to treatment, and no longer only to seriously ill patients. She also promised that the Economic Committee for Health Products (CEPS) would renegotiate the price down. "We welcome the intention, but for the moment, these are only promises, regrets Olivier Maguey. CEPS remains fairly opaque and allows little transparency. It's a shame to go through that, especially since there is another, more radical way: the ex officio license".

The ex officio license, permitted in national law by article L613-615, proposes the creation of a generic from a patented drug if it "is not made available to the public in quantity or quality. insufficient or at abnormally high prices". Conditions that make Osvaldo eligible. This procedure considerably reduces the drug's price while paying royalties to the company at the origin of the product, which ends up there financially.

Why did Marisol Touraine not choose this solution? "We asked her two years ago, and she still hasn't answered us, regrets Olivier Maguey. The only answer we have is that she considers it a "weak legal instrument." It's wrong!". Because despite a low use - a few cases since the 1950s - the method is effective. To refuse, the laboratory must engage in a legal battle that is very costly in terms of money and image.

In 2001, 39 pharmaceutical companies filed a lawsuit against the South African government, trying to promote the production of generics against AIDS. The process was stopped along the way, and prices fell. "Unfortunately, this legal tool is not known to the general public, regrets Olivier Maguey. With this campaign, we want to go further than simply observing the situation. We want to create a debate and bring it to the public. So that, perhaps, the situation changes".