As many undergraduates wore red ribbons to commemorate World AIDS Day Friday, a group of students joined about 100 protesters in a demonstration against a pharmaceutical company's patent on one of the most effective AIDS drugs on the market.

The rally targeted the local offices of Pfizer, the world's largest drug company.

About 30 Harvard students first gathered at the ARCO Forum at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) Friday afternoon and listened to short speeches from the leaders of the rally.

"We have an opportunity today to challenge the corporate oppression of Pfizer," said Adam Taylor, a KSG student who organized the rally. "We can use consumer action to change the course of this disease worldwide."

Pfizer makes a life-saving drug called fluconazole, which treats two AIDS-related opportunistic diseases--a painful and deadly brain infection called cryptoccal meningitis and another potentially fatal disease called esophageal candidiasis.

Health experts estimate that 10 percent of 34.5 million AIDS sufferers worldwide will die of these diseases.

But protesters said that Pfizer charges unfairly high prices for this drug, which costs $12.20 per pill wholesale in the United States and up to $20.75 on the private market in South Africa. In contrast, in countries like Thailand where generic versions are legal, the drug costs only 24 cents per pill, organizers said.

Pfizer officials could not be reached for comment.