BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM ACCUSED OF CONCEALING ARV SIDE EFFECTS

According to international press reports, an anonymous statement posted on the website of South Africa's ruling party, the ANC, has accused German drug major Boehringer Ingelheim of "concealing deadly side effects" on its HIV/AIDS treatment Viramune.

The allegations also accuse US National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials of "spreading lies" about the drug, claiming that the NIH was concealing negative results of trials of the drug conducted in hospitals in Uganda. Both NIH and Boehringer Ingelheim have categorically rejected the claim, with the company describing the allegations as "utterly false." Furthermore, NIH insists that the trials produced positive results, and cited evidence that since the drug's addition to state medical provision, Viramune has been administered to thousands of South African mothers without causing death or severe side effects.

Viramune is Boehringer Ingelheim's top-selling drug in South Africa, although the company has given the drug away free of charge in many countries in recent years. Meanwhile, state provision of HIV/AIDS treatment continues to be controversial, and pricing remains the subject of severe friction between the authorities and the multinational drug sector.