Michelle ThompsonSouth Africa’s CAPE TOWN (AP) — According to the country’s antitrust commission, Johnson & Johnson, a U.S. pharmaceutical corporation, is under investigation in South Africa for allegedly charging “excessive” pricing for a crucial tuberculosis treatment.
According to the South African Competition Commission, J&J’s Belgian-based subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals is also under scrutiny.
the businesses “may have engaged in exclusionary practices and exorbitant pricing” of the tuberculosis medicine bedaquiline, which is marketed under the brand name Sirturo,” according to information the commission, which oversees commercial practices, said it launched the probe this week.
Health advocacy groups in South Africa claim that the country is being charged more than twice as much for bedaquiline as other middle- and low-income countries. The Competition Commission declined to provide additional specifics of its probe.
In 2012, bedaquiline received approval for the treatment of drug-resistant TB. South Africa is in dire need of it since infectious disease will be the main cause of mortality there in 2021, killing more than 50,000 people. More individuals than any other country in the world—more than 7 million—live with HIV in South Africa. According to the World Health Organization, TB is to blame for close to one-third of mortality among HIV/AIDS patients.
For the first time in years, TB infections climbed globally in 2021, according to the WHO.
J&J previously came under fire for charging too much for bedaquiline, but it said last month that it would donate a six-month supply of the medication through the Stop TB Partnerships Global Drug Facility for $130.
Professor Norbert Ndjeka, who oversees the national department of health’s TB control and management, claims that the South African government purchases its bedaquiline directly from J&J and Janssen and not through the Stop TB facility. A patient’s six-month course of treatment costs the government of South Africa about $280.
According to a story on the News24 website, Ndjeka claimed that South Africa had just recently finalized a new two-year agreement with J&J for bedaquiline at a slightly higher cost than $280 per course.
Due to increased media attention, the Competition Commission claimed that it was verifying the investigation. However, it declined to comment or provide any details regarding the inquiry.
It occurs a week after information about South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement agreements with multiple pharmaceutical firms, including J&J and Pfizer, based in the United States, was made public by a health advocacy group. They were acquired following the Health Justice Initiative’s victory in a court battle for the right to access information.
The group claims that according to the contracts, J&J charged South Africa 15% more per dosage of the vaccine than it did the considerably wealthier European Union. Even though South Africa struggled to obtain doses and had the highest rate of COVID-19 infections on the continent, Pfizer charged South Africa more than 30% more per vaccination than it cost the African Union.
According to the contract, South Africa was expected to pay Pfizer $40 million upfront for doses, with only $20 million being refunded in the event that the vaccinations weren’t delivered. J&J also demanded a $27.5 million non-refundable down payment.
In 2022, Pfizer reported record sales of $100.3 billion. J&J generated $94.9 billion in revenue in 2017.
