[Ip-health] MSF Denounces Abbott's Move to Withhold Medicines From People in Thailand

[Benjamin Krohmal]

MSF Denounces Abbott=92s Move to Withhold Medicines From People in
Thailand

Bangkok/New York/Geneva, 15 March 2007 =96 The international medical
humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/M=E9decins Sans
Fronti=E8res (MSF) today denounced Abbott Laboratories=92 decision not to
market its new medicines in Thailand. The Chicago-based multinational
pharmaceutical company has cited Thailand=92s use of compulsory
licenses as a reason for taking the drastic measures. MSF notes that
the use of compulsory licenses to improve access to essential
medicines is consistent with international laws, and is concerned
that patients will bear the brunt of Abbott=92s harsh decision.

Among the drugs the company is refusing to sell in Thailand is the
new, heat-stable version of the medicine lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r),
marketed by Abbott as Kaletra. The drug is a vital component of
treatment for a growing number of people living with HIV/AIDS who no
longer respond to their first set of medications. In the US, Abbott
no longer sells the old version of the drug, which requires
refrigeration. The company will continue to sell it in Thailand,
though, where tropical temperatures make it highly impractical to use.

=93Our patients in Thailand, who still use the old version of the
medicine, have been waiting for this new version for a very long
time,=94 said Dr. David Wilson, of MSF in Thailand. =93The drug was
registered in the US in October 2005, but still cannot be used in
Thailand and many other countries where it is desperately needed.
Refusing to sell the drug here is a major betrayal to patients.=94

MSF currently provides treatment to more than 80,000 people living
with HIV/AIDS in over 30 countries. In one MSF project in
Khayelitsha, South Africa, 20% of patients needed to be switched to a
second-line regimen after being on treatment for five years. While
the needs for second-line regimens are likely to increase in the
coming years, medicines used for second-line therapy are mostly
unavailable or unaffordable in developing countries.

Since November 2006, Thailand has issued compulsory licenses for
three medicines, including the AIDS drugs efavirenz and lopinavir/
ritonavir. The director of the World Health Organization (WHO),
Margaret Chan and the director of UNAIDS, Peter Piot have both spoken
in favor of governments using all flexibilities of  the World Trade
Organization=92s agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS). MSF is calling on WHO, UNAIDS, governments,
and other international bodies to denounce Abbott=92s move.

=93Thailand=92s move to issue compulsory licenses is an important way to
help bring prices down and increase availability of medicines,=94 said
Ellen =91t Hoen, Policy Director at MSF=92s Campaign for Access to
Essential Medicines. =93In light of this, Abbott=92s move is appalling.=94

Nearly one year ago, Abbott announced a price of US$ 500 per patient
per year for Africa and least-developed countries. In August 2006,
the company announced a price of US$ 2,200 per patient per year in
low-income and low-middle income countries, such as Thailand, which
far exceeds what people can afford.  Today=92s standard three-in-one
first line AIDS treatment in developing countries is currently
available for US$ 140 per patient per year.

Abbott has failed to provide any information in response to MSF=92s
repeated requests for a registration status update.  MSF and other
groups have consistently been calling upon the company to register
the new version of the drug in developing countries, so that it can
be used by patients in resource-poor settings.

=93These discounted prices from Abbott exist only on paper, because the
company has been dragging its feet about registering the product in
many countries,=94 said Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director of MSF=92s
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. =93And now they have gone
even further by withdrawing registration from Thailand, a tactic that
effectively holds patients hostage.=94


Buddhima Lokuge
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
Doctors Without Borders/M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res (MSF)
+1-212 655 3762