[Ip-health] AP: Thai Health Groups Urge Abbott Boycott

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

March 20, 2007, 2:03PM
Thai Health Groups Urge Abbott Boycott

By AMBIKA AHUJA Associated Press Writer
=A9 2007 The Associated Press

  BANGKOK, Thailand =97 Health groups in Thailand called on Tuesday for a
boycott of U.S. drug maker Abbott Laboratories after it announced it
won't introduce any new medicines in the country because of the
government's decision to allow generic versions of its patented
AIDS-fighting drug.

"What they did is synonymous with holding our patients hostage," said
Dr. Kriengsak Vacharanukulki-eti, head of the Rural Doctors' Society.
"It's not just a threat to Thai patients, it's a threat to patients in
poor countries everywhere."

The society is one of several Thai health advocacy and consumer groups
that vowed Tuesday to boycott Abbott products unless the company
changes its position.

Abbott has withdrawn applications in Thailand to register a new
formulation of the HIV-fighting drug Kaletra, the painkiller Brufen, an
antibiotic called Abbotic, the blood-clotting medicine Clivarine,
arthritis drug Humira, high-blood pressure medication Tarka, and kidney
disease drug Zemplar.

Abbott declined to comment on the proposed boycott. But its director
for HIV communication and policy, Dirk van Eeden, repeated the
company's reason for restricting the introduction of new medicines in
Thailand.

"Thailand has chosen to break patents on a number of medicines,
ignoring the patent system," he said by phone from the company's U.S.
headquarters in Illinois. "As such, we've elected not to introduce new
medicines."

In January, the Thai government issued a so-called "compulsory license"
allowing the use of much cheaper generic versions of Abbott's Kaletra
AIDS drug. It also issued a similar license for blood thinner Plavix,
marketed by France's Sanofi-Aventis SA and U.S. drug maker
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

According to World Trade Organization agreements on intellectual
property, a government may issue a compulsory license allowing 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 for AIDS medicines.

More than 500,000 people in Thailand are living with HIV, according to
UNAIDS, the U.N. agency that coordinates the global fight against the
AIDS virus.

Kriengsak said his agency has asked rural hospitals and their staff not
to use any Abbott products.

Paul Cawthorne, representative in Thailand of the health assistance
group Medicins Sans Frontieres-Belgium, said he was shocked by Abbott's
action.

"It was the first time I have seen such a reaction from a drug
company," he said. "If they think Thailand has broken a law, they
should have challenged it in court instead of acting like a spoiled
child."

Thai public health officials say Abbott's move will not directly
threaten public access to medicines in Thailand, but some health groups
worry that other drug companies may adopt the same tactics.

Nimit Tienudom, executive director of AIDS Access, a patients' advocacy
group, said his group supports a boycott of Abbott because its action
"is being used as a threat that other companies might decide to adopt."

"It also sets a precedent for future governments, especially elected
ones, who might fear to take the same courageous move," he said.

Thai health officials said Abbott had engaged in negotiations about
price reductions with Thai officials following the issuance of the
compulsory license for Kaletra but no agreement had been reached.

---------------------------------
Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org