CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — U.S.-based pharmaceuticals company Johnson & Johnson is being investigated in South Africa for allegedly charging “excessive” prices for a key tuberculosis drug, the country's antitrust regulator said Friday.
It is desperately-needed by South Africa, where the infectious disease is the leading cause of death, killing more than 50,000 people in 2021.
South Africa has more than 7 million people living with HIV, more than any other country in the world.
The group says the contracts show J&J charged South Africa 15% more per vaccine dose than it charged the much richer European Union.
Pfizer charged South Africa more than 30% more per vaccine than it charged the African Union, even as South Africa struggled to acquire doses while having more COVID-19 infections than anywhere else on the continent.
Persons:
Johnson, Bedaquiline, Janssen, Norbert Ndjeka, Ndjeka, Intiative, J
Organizations:
—, Johnson, J's, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, South Africa's, World Health Organization, WHO, Global, J, bedaquiline, Commission, Pfizer, Health, Union, African Union, Initiative, ___ AP
Locations:
CAPE, South Africa, J's Belgium, Africa, Africa's, ___, africa