Actavis has decided to give Icelandic health institutions a gift by offering the company’s first hypodermic cancer drugs on the Icelandic market for free. A year’s supply of five different drugs is being made available to Icelandic health institutions without charge: four from 1st April 2009 and one from 1st January 2010.
The value of the gift is estimated at ISK 13-15 million (USD 108,000-125,000).
Iceland’s State Trading Centre announced on 29th October that Actavis had submitted the lowest price offer on nine medicines under tender number 14512. Following this, Actavis decided to give the five new cancer drugs to hospitals for free in their first year.
Sigurdur Oli Olafsson, Actavis CEO said: “We wanted to do some good, given the current financial situation here. We though it was ideal to do something like this given that these are the first hypodermic cancer drugs Actavis has launched in Iceland. Increasing the number of generic drugs in this category will save a lot of money for Icelandic medical institutions. Actavis has shown great corporate responsibility from the very beginning in its work and will continue to do so wherever possible.”
Given the carnage the principal of Actavis – Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson – and his father have caused, and all the monies unaccounted for, from various entities, this is an insult to Iceland!!