President and Founder Jim Wilkins:
Access to medicines is a fundamental human right that should not be limited by national borders, economic or political boundaries, but we have a system in place here in the United States where drug companies are given carte blanche to charge whatever they think the market will bear for lifesaving medications.
This creates a situation where many people without the very highest levels of (expensive) health insurance must choose between buying their medications and paying for rent or groceries. In addition to access problems in the “developed world” those in the rest of the world, the so-called “developing world” also suffer limited access to medicines. The relentless pursuit of profit by the worldwide pharmaceutical industry has created these disparities and there is an urgent need to find ways of supplying medicines at the lower cost.
We at Fair Access Medicines are veterans of the for-profit pharmaceutical industry and have decided to work to provide some balance in the pharmaceutical marketplace. We understand that many drugs don’t need to cost so much and we understand the technologies behind drug manufacturing because of our long association with the industry. We believe that using these technologies, we can produce some of the same medicines that are now offered by Big Pharma at a fraction of their current prices. Our goal, in fact, is to provide these drugs at the lowest possible price
Since many life-saving medications can be manufactured inexpensively and are free of intellectual property (patent) issues, we can step in to manufacture these drugs, obtain licensure from FDA and then – working with our partners in the United States and around the world – distribute them to patients who desperately need them.
Skyrocketing drug prices in the U.S. have put an enormous strain on the healthcare system, and even outside our borders people in poorer countries either cannot afford or even gain access to breakthrough medicines. We believe that our approach can open up access to these treatments and save lives. In addition, it can provide a model to show the public that there is another way to approach this problem.
Our first initiative has already started: we are developing a process to manufacture and supply insulin, a drug whose price has risen an astonishing 500% over the last decade. In order to accomplish our goal we need help from people like you. We have started a grassroots fundraising effort and welcome any support you can offer.
I encourage you to visit our website at https://www.fairaccessmedicines.org to learn more.
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