Tokyo

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bleve21@gmail.com 
Gilead Sciences K.K.
Gran Tokyo South Tower 16 F, 1-9-2 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 100-6616, Japan

April 1, 2016

Dear Mr. Yuji Orihara
President and Representative Director of Gilead Sciences K.K.

We are the representatives of Doro-Chiba (National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba), Hoshino Defense Committee and the workers fighting together. Doro-Chiba, a union of train drivers, engineers and janitors of East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), has been fighting against the Division and Privatization of Japan National Railways (JNR) since 1987. The Hoshino Defense Committee has been fighting to free an innocent political prisoner Fumiaki Hoshino who fought against the ratification of Okinawa Reversion Agreement, which admitted US bases remaining there, in 1971.

Today, we have come here to urgently demand and protest as below:

You have started to market Harvoni Combination Tablets which provide complete regimen to chronic hepatitis C treatment. This is surely delightful news for patients suffering from hepatitis C. But the extortionate drug price has drowned out the good news. Now the burning anger of patients is boiling all over the world against your price policy. We suppose you might already know this by now.

In the United States, Pennsylvania State and its Department of Correction are unjustly continuing to detain an innocent prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal for a prolonged period, putting him under undue risk. Not only that, they stubbornly deny the medication to give Harvoni Combination Tablets to Mumia for his hepatitis C treatment. And also it is ignored that there are 700,000 prisoners in the U.S. infected by hepatitis C are being denied medication marketed by Gilead Sciences, Inc.

If the unjustly extortionate drug price of Harvoni Combination Tablets is the reason for the denial of medication of the prison authorities, your company is in a serious situation to share the responsibility. As we know the drug prices are decided in the discussion/collusion among pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies and government. The astonishing price of 80,000 –120,000 yen per tablet indicates the ultimate result of the policy of neoliberalism—“money worth more than life”. We have to say that the Message of the President Orihara—“For the patients”—has lost its trust.

In Japan, the ultimate expensive drugs such as for chronic hepatitis C and metastatic lung cancer are covered by the public health insurance. But such expensive coverage intentionally promotes the collapse of the system of public health insurance as a whole. Also, this functions as pump-priming role to introduce the medical treatment system not covered by insurance.

Therefore, we strongly urge you to deal with two things as below:

  1. Stage an urgent talk with affiliates to market Harvoni Combination Tablets in moderate price in order to save lives of all patients in the world and especially all prisoners that are suffering from hepatitis C including Mumia Abu-Jamal.

  2. Stop undue interference to drug pricing system of new drugs and stand firmly in a position to contribute to save working class people.

Hoshino Defense Committee
Ishida Bldg. 4 F, 2-8-16 Shinbashi Minato-ku,
Tokyo 105-0004, Japan
National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba
DC Kaikan Bldg. 3 F, 2-8 Kaname-cho Chuo-ku Chiba-shi,
Chiba 260-0017, Japan
Tel: 043(222)7207 / fax: 043(224)7197