Pharmaceutical Giant Withholds New Drugs in Thailand
AIDS Activists Condemns Abbott’s Denial of Medicines
April 23, 2007 – For Immediate Release
TORONTO - AIDS ACTION NOW! and Asian Community
AIDS Services will protest Abbott Laboratories’ decision
to deny access to life-saving drugs to people in Thailand.
Thursday, April 26, 2007, 12:15 pm
In front of the Westin Harbour Castle,
Bay Street & Queen’s Quay, Toronto
The Toronto protest is part of a global campaign to condemn Abbott.
Similar actions are planned in many countries, leading to a protest
the following day at Abbott’s annual meeting in Illinois.
Abbott has been denying people living with HIV/AIDS in poor countries
access to its AIDS drug Kaletra — charging prices that are
out of reach, refusing to allow generic versions of the drug,
and now refusing to even sell the drug in some countries.
Abbott recently announced that it will withhold new medicines,
including new AIDS drugs, from people in Thailand. Abbott’s
actions were in response to the Thai government policy allowing
a generic version of Kaletra onto the market – a policy
in full compliance with international trade agreements. Abbott
had previously refused to lower its price to make Kaletra affordable
to thousands of Thai people who need it.
More recently, activist pressure prompted Abbott to announce
that it will reduce the price of Kaletra in lower middle and middle
income countries. Activists have hailed this as an important step,
but demanded further action on pricing and licensing. Abbott has
not reversed its decision to withhold new medicines from people
living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand.
Thai people living with HIV/AIDS have called for Global Day of
Action.
“It’s disgraceful that a pharmaceutical company would
respond to generic competition by putting people’s lives
at risk,” said AIDS ACTION NOW spokesperson Tim McCaskell.
“People with HIVAIDS in Thailand are being treated as pawns
in a battle for profits.” said Asian Community AIDS Services
Executive Director Noulmook Sutdhibhasilp.
For More Information:
Tim McCaskell, AIDS ACTION NOW: 416-534-2799
Noulmook Sutdhibhasilp, ACAS: 416- 963-4300
BACKGROUND
Abbott has, for several years, refused to make its life-saving
AIDS drug available and affordable to people living in Africa,
Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Abbott charges several
times the annual income of many for a year’s supply and
has dragged its feet on even registering the drug for sale in
countries where profit is not high.
Now, Abbott has made a callous decision to withdraw all of its
current medications awaiting registration in addition to refusing
to register any new pharmaceutical products in Thailand. This
extreme decision is in response to the recent granting of a compulsory
license for the Abbott manufactured, lopinavir+ritonavir (Kaletra)
by the Thai government.
Thailand’s decision to grant compulsory licenses for lopinavir+ritonavir,
clopidogrel bisulfate (Plavix, an anti-clotting agent), and efavirenz
(another antiretroviral) is completely legal and in accordance
with Thai national law and WTO rules. It was a brave and necessary
step by the Thai government to ensure access to quality care and
treatment for all people living with HIV/AIDS. It will allow Thailand
to import the Kaletra from India at a cost of less than 4000 baht
(US$113) per person per month in contrast to Abbott’s current
price of 8900 baht (US$250) per person per month or 11,580 (US$325)
per person per month when selling to NGOs. This price is unacceptable
and unaffordable to the Thai government and in time will threaten
the Thai government’s ability to fulfill its promise of
providing ARV treatment to all Thais who need it.
Abbott’s decision also denies Thai people living with HIV/AIDS
access to the new heat-stable formula Kaletra, which is of vital
importance to a tropical country like Thailand.
This action by Abbott is unprecedented by a pharmaceutical company
and has sparked a global campaign by to register people’s
disgust and condemnation for their prioritizing of profit over
people.
AAN and ACAS demand that Abbott reinstate the registration for
its AIDS drug Kaletra, and the six other drugs it pulled from
the registration process in Thailand, and reduce the price of
its existing medicines in Thailand.
AAN and ACAS call on the World Health Organization to defend
and support Thailand's decision to issue a compulsory license,
by providing technical support and assistance to the Thai government
to enforce compulsory licenses at this time.
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