[Ip-health] Abbott won't launch new drugs in Thailand

[Benjamin Krohmal]

Below, first a blog post, then the Wall Street Journal Article:

http://pharmalot.com/2007/03/abbott_plans_its_own_coup_in_t.php

March 13, 2007
Abbott Plans Its Own Coup In Thailand

The drugmaker is refusing to sell new drugs therey in response to the
military government's move to issue compulsory licenses for several
medicines, including its own Kaletra AIDS treatment. Applications to
market seven new drugs were yanked, according to a story in The Wall
Street Journal, which cites unnamed sources.

Big pharma is furious that the Thai government has pulled patent
protection on Kaletra and the Plavix blood thinner, which is sold by
Britsol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis, especially since industry
claims they were no prior discussions. Under World Trade Organization
rules, there are certain situations, such as national emergencies,
that permit countries to issue complusory licenses, but drugmakers
say Thailand has gone too far.

But refusing to sell new drugs may backfire. Abbott may score some
points by acting tough and claiming WTO rules were somehow violated.
In general, the company has every right to defend its patents, and
sometimes playing hardball produces desired results. Supposedly,
Abbott will continue to sell other meds, and so hopes to avoid
accusationos that its unwilling to provide any medication at all to
those in need.

Yet, denying patients certain necessary medications is only likely to
galvanize criticism and put Abbott in the unenviable position of
arguing about technicalities with people who talk about life and
death. Abbott's ceo, Miles White, should chat with Dan Vasella over
at Novartis about how much fun he's having trying something similar
in India.

"It's not good for anyone, even the American company because they
will lose the market," says Thawat Suntrajarn, director general of
the Ministry of Health's department of disease control, who tells the
Journal that he was unaware of Abbott's decision.

Maybe Abbott is frustrated with US Trade Rep Susan Schwab. She wrote
Congressman Tom Allen, a Maine Democrat, a letter on Jan. 17 in which
she indicated Thailand didn't actually breach WTO rules. And in a
March 12 letter Allen, Henry Waxman and others are keeping the
pressure on her not to change her position.

Abbott's White may claim the Thai military government is putting a
gun to his head. And so he's chosen to wield a weapon of his own. But
this is no ordinary showdown. Caught in the looming crossfire are any
number of sick, or soon-to-be-sick, Thai citizens. And if neither
side finds a way to compromise, the ordinary patient will be the
first to suffer.

Posted by Ed Silverman



the Wall Street Journal piece follows:

Abbott Won't Launch New Drugs
In Thailand After Patent Revocation
By NICHOLAS ZAMISKA
March 13, 2007 6:44 a.m.

Abbott Laboratories has decided against launching any new medicines
in Thailand in response to the military-installed government's
decision to revoke the company's patent for its blockbuster AIDS
drug, according to people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. drug maker has also withdrawn its current drug applications
from the government review process, these people said, adding that
Abbott has no plans to stop selling drugs that are currently on the
market.

Abbott's move, which could leave patients in Thailand with fewer
options for treatment of certain conditions, raises the stakes in a
battle between multinational pharmaceutical companies and the Thai
government that took power following a military coup last year.

In January, the government said it would suspend patent protections
for two drugs to make them more widely available to patients who need
them. These included the HIV treatment Kaletra, made by Abbott, of
Abbott Park, Ill., and Plavix, a blood-thinning drug originally
developed by Sanofi-Aventis SA of Paris and co-marketed in several
countries by New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

In certain situations, including national emergencies, World Trade
Organization rules allow a government to unilaterally make or sell
patented drugs without the permission of the drug companies. However,
pharmaceutical companies have criticized Thailand for stretching the
scope of those rules beyond widely accepted boundaries.

Abbott has withdrawn its application for seven medicines, according
to a person familiar with the matter, including a new formulation of
Kaletra, the AIDS treatment. Abbott notified the Thai government a
few weeks ago, after talks between the two sides broke down, the
person familiar with the matter said.

A decision that may keep critical, life-saving drugs away of patients
who need them could prove controversial for Abbott. "It's not good
for anyone, even the American company because they will lose the
market," says Thawat Suntrajarn, director general of the Ministry of
Health's department of disease control, who says that he was unaware
of Abbott's decision.