政府与拜耳公司就Cipro售价达成协议
WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters Health) - Bush administration officials announced Wednesday afternoon that they had struck a deal with Cipro maker Bayer AG on a massive federal purchase of the drug to help gird the country against more anthrax attacks.
The deal allows the government to buy Cipro for 95 cents per pill, a substantial decrease from Bayer's original asking price of $1.77. Under the agreement, the government will buy 100 million tablets for $95 million with the option to buy another 100 million pills at 85 cents each and yet another 100 million at 75 cents each.
, http://www.100md.com
"This agreement means that a much larger supply of this important pharmaceutical product will be available if needed," Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a joint statement with Bayer officials.
The deal "is an important security measure that will enable the nation to have in its stockpile ample supplies of Cipro to combat the threat of anthrax," Bayer President Helge H. Wehmeier said in the statement.
, 百拇医药
David Little, a drug pricing analyst with the firm DMD, said that the 95-cents-per-tablet Cipro deal appeared to have gone the Bush administration's way. "This is apparently a defensive move on the part of Bayer," Little said.
Thompson announced last week his intention to increase the country's stockpiles of anti-anthrax drugs from 2 million 60-day treatment courses to 12 million courses. He asked Congress to provide $643 million for the build-up.
, 百拇医药
But controversy erupted when Bayer announced that it wanted its usual price for government purchases. Thompson pledged to get the drug for under a dollar per pill and threatened to ask Congress for a waiver of Bayer's patent if the company did not lower its price.
Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD), whose office was the target of an anthrax-tainted letter last week, said Wednesday afternoon that he didn't think that "any company ought to benefit substantially from the tragedy this country has experienced."
, 百拇医药
Even a few hours before the deal was announced, Thompson told Reuters Health in an interview that the agreement over Cipro had "unraveled."
Cipro, also known as ciprofloxacin, is one of several drugs that are effective in treating anthrax infection. Other common agents include doxycycline and penicillin, both of which are produced generically and sold substantially cheaper than Cipro.
The national pharmaceutical stockpile currently contains 18.6 million Cipro doses, housed in eight medical "push packs" that can be mobilized to disaster sites.
A senior HHS official said that it was not relying more heavily on Cipro than before despite the attention the drug has received in the wake of the anthrax attacks on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.
"It's still going to remain the same percentages in the push packs," the official said., 百拇医药
The deal allows the government to buy Cipro for 95 cents per pill, a substantial decrease from Bayer's original asking price of $1.77. Under the agreement, the government will buy 100 million tablets for $95 million with the option to buy another 100 million pills at 85 cents each and yet another 100 million at 75 cents each.
, http://www.100md.com
"This agreement means that a much larger supply of this important pharmaceutical product will be available if needed," Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a joint statement with Bayer officials.
The deal "is an important security measure that will enable the nation to have in its stockpile ample supplies of Cipro to combat the threat of anthrax," Bayer President Helge H. Wehmeier said in the statement.
, 百拇医药
David Little, a drug pricing analyst with the firm DMD, said that the 95-cents-per-tablet Cipro deal appeared to have gone the Bush administration's way. "This is apparently a defensive move on the part of Bayer," Little said.
Thompson announced last week his intention to increase the country's stockpiles of anti-anthrax drugs from 2 million 60-day treatment courses to 12 million courses. He asked Congress to provide $643 million for the build-up.
, 百拇医药
But controversy erupted when Bayer announced that it wanted its usual price for government purchases. Thompson pledged to get the drug for under a dollar per pill and threatened to ask Congress for a waiver of Bayer's patent if the company did not lower its price.
Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD), whose office was the target of an anthrax-tainted letter last week, said Wednesday afternoon that he didn't think that "any company ought to benefit substantially from the tragedy this country has experienced."
, 百拇医药
Even a few hours before the deal was announced, Thompson told Reuters Health in an interview that the agreement over Cipro had "unraveled."
Cipro, also known as ciprofloxacin, is one of several drugs that are effective in treating anthrax infection. Other common agents include doxycycline and penicillin, both of which are produced generically and sold substantially cheaper than Cipro.
The national pharmaceutical stockpile currently contains 18.6 million Cipro doses, housed in eight medical "push packs" that can be mobilized to disaster sites.
A senior HHS official said that it was not relying more heavily on Cipro than before despite the attention the drug has received in the wake of the anthrax attacks on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.
"It's still going to remain the same percentages in the push packs," the official said., 百拇医药