[Ip-health] Reuters: Brazil seals deal with Abbott on AIDS drugs

[Shanti Avirgan]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
There appears to be an enormous discrepancy
between the Brazilian Health Ministry and
Abbott's statements regarding the Kaletra deal.
Below the Reuters article is a copy of  the
Health Min. statement (in Portuguese). It is
cited from the Agencia AIDS site
http://agenciaaids.com.br/  because the Brazilian
government's AIDS web site
http://www.aids.gov.br/ has been
(uncharacteristically) down for the past few
hours.

***
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=3DN08420845

Brazil seals deal with Abbott on AIDS drugs
Fri 8 Jul 2005 9:55 PM ET

  (Updates with Abbott comments)

  By Andrei Khalip

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, July 8 (Reuters) -
Brazil's Health Ministry on Friday reached a deal
with Abbott Laboratories Inc. <ABT.N> to cut the
price of the Kaletra AIDS drug after the country
threatened last month to break the patent.

  In a statement, Brazil's Health Ministry quoted
former Health Minister Humberto Costa, who led
the negotiations with Illinois-based Abbott, as
saying the agreed price would be "comparable" to
the price of similar generic medicine made in
India and local production.

  Abbott said the deal did not specify the per-pill price.

  "Essentially, they are getting volume
discounts," said Abbott spokeswoman Melissa
Brotz, explaining the agreement allowed the
government to increase significantly the number
of patients treated while holding spending at
current levels over the next few years.

  "We're pleased to have reached an agreement that
expanded access to Kaletra for Brazilian patients
and preserved our intellectual property rights
which Abbott was not willing to negotiate," she
said.

  Brazil has in the past reached similar
agreements with pharmaceutical companies after
threatening to break patents, but it has never
effectively broken any.

The United Nations has lauded Brazil's AIDS
prevention and treatment program, which provides
free drugs for people with the disease and saves
the government money by keeping them out of
public hospitals. The program is expected to have
170,000 drug recipients this year.

The ministry said the price reduction would occur
over the next six years. It said Abbott would
also start transferring the technology to Brazil
in 2009 so the local laboratory, FarManguinhos,
could make the drug in Brazil.

  Brotz told Reuters the statement regarding the
transfer of technology was wrong.

  "Abbott will not start transferring technology
in 2009. We will begin the transfer prior to
2015, which is when the patent expires, but
Brazil will not be able to manufacture the drug
before the patent expires," she said.

The ministry said it expected the number of
Kaletra users to nearly triple to about 60,000
people six years from now from about 23,400
current patients.

It said the agreed price reduction meant $18
million less would be spent on the drug next
year, while up to $259 million would be saved in
the next six years.

  Brotz said, "Abbott does not confirm these figures."

  Earlier, Costa said a state-owned lab could make
the drug for 68 cents a pill, less than the $1.17
the government pays Abbott per pill.

  Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
replaced Costa, a member of his Workers' Party,
on Wednesday as part of a government shuffle seen
as a way to win political support amid a bribery
scandal. He was replaced by Saraiva Felipe from
Brazil's largest party, the Democratic Movement
Party.

  The new minister officially took over on Friday.

  Brazil says that in emergency situations the
government can refuse to honor a patent for
intellectual property so that a cheaper generic
can be made. Other countries have similar laws.
Canada and the United States considered breaking
patents on some antibiotics during the anthrax
scare in 2001.

***

http://agenciaaids.com.br/noticias-resultado.asp?Codigo=3D3128

  "O Minist=E9rio da Sa=FAde concluiu a negocia=E7=E3o com
o laborat=F3rio Abbott,iniciada h=E1 dez dias, para
que essa empresa atendesse o interesse p=FAblico de
promover uma redu=E7=E3o do pre=E7o do medicamento
Kaletra (Lopinavir+Ritonavir),garantindo a
sustentabilidade do Programa Nacional de
DST-AIDS. Os resultados alcan=E7ados garantem os
objetivos propostos pelo Minist=E9rio, assegurando
uma redu=E7=E3o significativa no pre=E7o do medicamento
durante os pr=F3ximos seis anos, garantindo o
acesso =E0 nova formula=E7=E3o do Kaletra que ser=E1
lan=E7ada mundialmente em dois anos e a realiza=E7=E3o
da transfer=EAncia de tecnologia para a produ=E7=E3o
nacional desse medicamento. A preocupa=E7=E3o do
Minist=E9rio da Sa=FAde em garantir a redu=E7=E3o do
pre=E7o foi plenamente atendida, conseguindo-se uma
redu=E7=E3o de, pelo menos U$ 18 milh=F5es de d=F3lares
j=E1 no pr=F3ximo ano, e uma economia, frente aos
pre=E7os atualmente praticados, de at=E9 U$ 259
milh=F5es em seis anos. O acordo prev=EA ainda que o
aumento da capta=E7=E3o de pacientes n=E3o elevar=E1 os
gastos anuais com a aquisi=E7=E3o do Kaletra. Hoje
23.400 pacientes do programa recebem Kaletra, e
estima-se que em seis anos esse n=FAmero chegue a
60.000. O Minist=E9rio tamb=E9m conseguiu que o
acordo garanta o acesso dos pacientes brasileiros
ao Kaletra de nova gera=E7=E3o, o Meltrex, que
encontra-se em processo de registro nos Estados
Unidos e que significar=E1 um maior conforto para
os usu=E1rios, na medida em que reduz as seis doses
di=E1rias atuais para uma =FAnica dose, al=E9m de
reduzir os eventos adversos. No acordo, o
Minist=E9rio da Sa=FAde tamb=E9m assegurou o
fornecimento do Kaletra pedi=E1trico para os
pr=F3ximos seis anos, independentemente do aumento
no n=FAmero de usu=E1rios. Por =FAltimo, o Laborat=F3rio
Abbott concordou em realizar um processo de
transfer=EAncia de tecnologia para que o
laborat=F3rio Farmanguinhos possa fabricar o
medicamento. Esse processo se iniciar=E1 em 2009.