Canadian Wholesaler Stops Sending GlaxoSmithKline Drugs To Internet Pharmacies

Canadian drug wholesaler United Pharmacists Ltd. on Jan. 29 said it has ceased supplying GlaxoSmithKline treatments to pharmacies that sell drugs to U.S. residents over the Internet, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Cohen, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/30). Last week, GSK officials told at least three major Canadian wholesalers it would stop selling its treatments to them if they continued to supply pharmacies that market GSK treatments to the United States and other nations (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/22). Wayne Rivers, CEO of United Pharmacists, said his company -- which he calls one of the five largest drug wholesalers in Canada -- "had no choice" but to stop sending GSK treatments to the pharmacies because not doing so would have meant that Canadian customers would not have been able to get GSK treatments, the AP/Inquirer reports. "The threat of having interruption of Glaxo supply is just not an option," Rivers said, adding that some of the GSK products have no generic equivalent. United Pharmacists supplies 12 of the 29 Canadian pharmacies that sell to the United States. Rivers said GSK would "deal with the pharmacies individually," allowing them to buy directly from the company or authorize the wholesalers to begin distributing GSK products again if they stop selling to the United States, according to the AP/Inquirer (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/30). CBS' "Evening News" on Jan. 30 reported on GSK's actions. The segment includes comments from Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) and Daren Jorgenson, who operates the Internet pharmacy canadameds.com (Bowers, "Evening News," CBS, 1/30). The transcript and video the segment in RealPlayer are available online.

FTC Brief Supports Generic Paxil
In other GSK news, the Federal Trade Commission has filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of the Canadian drug company Apotex, which is seeking to produce a generic equivalent of GSK's antidepressant drug Paxil, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports. Apotex claims two GSK patents on Paxil were listed improperly with the FDA and should be de-listed. In the brief, the FTC noted that competition is "stifled" by illegal patent listings (Singer, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 1/30).