GSK pressured to license generic AIDS drugs
The largest pension scheme in the US, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), has called on GlaxoSmithKline to consider the voluntary licensing of generic versions of its AIDS drugs.
The largest pension scheme in the US, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), has called on GlaxoSmithKline to consider the voluntary licensing of generic versions of its AIDS drugs.
In a letter to ceo Jean-Paul Garnier, the pension fund, which holds nearly US$760m (€706m) in GSK stock, raised concerns that Glaxo's 'corporate behaviour' in response to the AIDS pandemic could damage to GSK's reputation, thereby affecting the value of its stock, including CalPERS' investment of approximately 20.2m shares.
'We request that Glaxo's Corporate Responsibility Committee immediately and continually evaluate the company's humanitarian efforts in light of a changing environment, including its response to the AIDS epidemic. We believe this should include continued evaluation of the means by which GSK can offer the lowest possible price on its AIDS therapies without long term harm to the company and in recognition of the balance you must strike between economics and reputational costs,' the letter said.
'We would like the Committee to specifically evaluate opportunities to enhance your humanitarian aid programs through licensing, again recognising the balance between the risks associated with licensing agreements with the costs, including the costs related to potential reputational damage. In order to become fully informed on the issues, we also request that this report be evaluated by a third party familiar with AIDS drug pricing in the developing world.'