Hoechst RU-486: Hoechst Altace: Gregory: King Pharmaceuticals Altace Timeline

If you listen to the self-described "conservative" Tennessee republican politicians who say that they are also "pro-life" while accepting campaign contributions from Tennessee Conservative PAC President and former King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CEO John M. Gregory, you should take that election year FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) propaganda with a grain of salt. Check out the Hilly Boy blog for a rather rough Hoechst RU-486: Hoechst Altace: Gregory: King Pharmaceuticals Altace time line running from pre-World War II to the 2004 Tennessee state elections.

In the United States, there have been many calls for boycotting the European pharmaceutical companies responsible for the development and market introduction of the RU-486 abortion drug since the drug came about in France during 1986 to 1988. The U.S. based National Right To Life Committee spearheaded a July 1994 boycott RU-486 of all Hoechst AG and U.S. subsidiary Hoechst Marion Roussell (HMR Kansas City, Missouri) pharmaceutical products including Altace.

By September 1994, the anti-abortion group Pharmacists for Life International specifically identified Altace as a boycott target having the most negative financial impact on Hoechst:

Having exhausted all reasonable and long-delayed avenues of solution, Pharmacists For Life International (PFLI) joined the numerous other pro-life groups in the international boycott against the parent company of the maker of the French abortion pill, RU-486. On Sept. 17th, the board of PFLI announced that it was joining the boycott against the American subsidiary of Hoechst, AG Hoechst-Roussel, Hoechst-Celanese, its generic subsidiary Coply Pharmaceuticals and the agricultural Hoechst subsidiary.

While other groups are focusing on the consumer side of the Hoechst boycott, PFLI will concentrate on a targeted, segmented approach to pressure Hoechst to rescind the RU-486 license it issued to the U.S. pro-abortion organization the Population Council. PFLI will also seek to convince Hoechst to halt the testing of the "Human Pesticide" in the U.S., currently happening at least 12 known sites, six of which are Planned Parenthood facilities. PFLI will concentrate on seeking support in the profession through institutional practices, wholesale/distributors, and community pharmacies (including independents and chains with latitude), It also is asking groups to *focus* on key Hoechst drugs which have the most economic impact rather than taking an across-the-board shotgun approach.

The drugs with the most potential for having an economic impact on Hoechst include: DiaBeta (glyburide); Altace (ramipril); Lasix (furosmide) and Topicort (desoximetsome). Glyburide is made by Hoechst under the trade name DiaBeta as well as being made by its Copley subsidiary. For a free wallet card or more information write: PLFI, P.O. Box 1281 Powell, OH 43065-1281.

Altace was bringing in less than $90 million per year by 1995 for Hoechst and in 1995 --- in large part due to the ongoing U.S. boycott of Hoechst by the National Right To Life Committee and other U.S. anti-abortion groups --- a corporate decision was made by Hoechst to stop promoting Altace.


King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. President Jefferson "Jeff" Gregory (brother of one-time King Pharmaceuticals CEO John M. Gregory) began negotiations with Hoechst HMR during June 1995 to acquire U.S. distribution rights to Altace for the King Pharma subsidiary Monarch Pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile in late 1998, Hoechst announced it would merge with Rhone-Poulenc to create Aventis (cleaning up --- if not sanitizing --- the widely perceived corporate image associated with Hoechst and RU-486 was one benefit realized by this merger) and the King Pharmaceuticals-Hoechst negotiations for the U.S. distribution and marketing rights to Altace for $363 million were finalized late in December 1998.

Also on the Tennessee home front on or about September 24 1998, Federal Election Commission records note that King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. President Jefferson (Jeff) Gregory contributed $1,000.00 to the Holcomb for Congress-98 election campaign. Former Tennessee State Senator (and at that time) King Pharmaceuticals employee/lobbyist since 1997) James "Jim" L. Holcomb sought to represent the Tennessee 1st House District of Northeast Tennessee as a conservative, "pro-life" republican within the U.S. Congress, and after failing with his 1998 republican primary bid for Congress, Holcomb refunded $797.00 of his remaining campaign treasury funds to his boss at King Pharmaceuticals, President Jefferson "Jeff" Gregory (actually, Holcomb refunded all of his campaign contributors in proportional amounts --- including that of both his own and his wife's campaign contributions to his election campaign).

During August (1999) King Pharmaceuticals lobbyist Holcomb organized a legislative airlift to Nashville aboard a King Pharmaceuticals corporate aircraft, transporting several republican Northeast Tennessee members of the Tennessee General Assembly (State Senator Ron Ramsey; State Rep. Jason Mumpower. State Rep. David Davis, and; State Rep. Steve Godsey) to lobby the then TennCare Director Brian Lapps for the approval of Altace on the TennCare PDL (Preferred Drug List) and by September of 1999 Altace is placed on the TennCare PDL and Director Lapps resigns from TennCare (Senator Ramsey would later claim in the press that "he organized" the Altace lobbying for King Pharmaceuticals).

Holcomb is currently employed as a governmental relations manager at the John Gregory owned Leitner Pharmaceuticals located in Bristol, Tennessee and is the treasurer of Gregory's Tennessee Conservative PAC.

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