[Ip-health] comments from Abbott, Thailand

[Benjamin Krohmal]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Dirk Van Eeden, public affairs director of Abbott International:
"Thailand has revoked the patent on our medicine, ignoring the patent
system. Under these circumstances, we have elected not to introduce
new medicines there."

Thawat Suntrajarn, director-general of the Department of Communicable
Disease Control: "But I am not surprised. It is one of the reactions
that we have anticipated.  We will not be affected since there are
many other companies we can choose to buy medicines from ... if
anything, they would lose out on their market share here."





Abbott Laboratories won't introduce new drugs in Thailand amid patent
dispute

Ambika Ahuja
Canadian Press

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

BANGKOK (AP) - U.S. drugmaker Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday it
won't launch new medicines in Thailand in response to the military-
installed government's decision not to honour the company's patent
for an AIDS drug.

"Thailand has revoked the patent on our medicine, ignoring the patent
system. Under these circumstances, we have elected not to introduce
new medicines there," said Dirk Van Eeden, public affairs director of
Abbott International.

The company's move will not affect medicines that are already
available in Thailand, where earlier this year the government issued
a so-called "compulsory licenses" allowing the breaking of patents on
two drugs.

The government move allows the production or purchase of much cheaper
generic versions of the drugs, one of which is Abbott's AIDS drug
Kaletra. The other drug is blood thinner Plavix, marketed by France's
Sanofi-Aventis SA and U.S. drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Thailand's Health Ministry said it had not been informed of Abbott's
decision.

"But I am not surprised. It is one of the reactions that we have
anticipated," said Thawat Suntrajarn, director-general of the
Department of Communicable Disease Control.

"We will not be affected since there are many other companies we can
choose to buy medicines from ... if anything, they would lose out on
their market share here."

Public health officials said issuance of compulsory licenses was
justified under international trade rules because the drugs' high
cost constituted a crisis for the country's health sector. More than
500,000 people in Thailand are living with HIV, according to UNAIDS,
the UN agency that coordinates the global fight against the deadly
virus.

According to the World Trade Organization's agreements on
intellectual property, a government may issue a compulsory license
allowing the manufacture, import and sale of generic versions of
drugs in case of a national public health emergency. Such action has
been taken by several countries, most notably Brazil and India,
especially in the case of HIV medicines.

Activists accused Abbott of depriving poor people of lifesaving
medications.

"This is a new low, and I am horrified ... Abbott has the hubris to
blacklist a courageous country like Thailand simply trying to do the
right thing for its people," said Michael Weinstein, the president of
the U.S. based AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

"Abbott's move goes to show that they take no social responsibility
and only care about maximum profit, especially since Thailand has not
broken any laws or trade agreements," said Kamol Upakaew, an AIDS
activist and former president of the Thai Network of People Living
with HIV/AIDS.

Abbott had engaged in negotiations about price reductions with Thai
officials following the issuance of the compulsory license for
Kaletra but no agreement was reached, according to a Thai health
official.

Sombat Thanprasertsuk, director of the Thai government's AIDS bureau,
said that the company and his office have not been in contact since
Feb. 8.

According to a statement by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Abbott
was willing to cut $200 off the $2,200 per patient annual cost of
Kaletra. It is estimated that with Thailand's compulsory license, a
generic version of Kaletra can be produced at around $1,000 per patient.

Benjamin Krohmal
Coordinator - Project on Medical Innovation
Knowledge Ecology International
Tel: +1-202-332-2670 ex. 14
Fax: +1-202-332-2673
ben.krohmal@keionline.org