In 2013, a cure was found for hepatitis C. It could save millions of lives, but its price tag of between $40,000 and $84,000 for 84 pills puts it far out of most patients’ reach. In India, however, a generic version of the drug is available for less than $1,000. Denied the affordable medication he needed, Greg Jefferys defied the US pharmaceutical company that holds the patent to set up a worldwide supply network for the generic version.
Buyers Club charts his story. It tells a tale of global solidarity to make life-saving drugs more affordable, from Jefferys’ home in Tasmania to India, where his suppliers dodge government regulations to ship it to nearly every country in the world, and Sweden, where one man seeks a cure for a disease that reminds him of a past he wants to forget.
Buyers Club is commissioned as part of the Guardian Bertha documentary partnership, which aims to tell international stories with global impact.
The director, Mandakini Gahlot, is a journalist and filmmaker based in Delhi. She works with Babel Press, a production agency that creates high quality television documentaries for clients across the world. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Globe and Mail, GlobalPost, USA Today, Al Jazeera, Arte TV, Canal+ and France 24.
The producer, Thomas Ellis, is a producer and co-founder of Babel Press.
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