[Ip-health] WSJ: Abbott Hit With Another Norvir Lawsuit

[Matt Price]

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119371558998476009.html

Abbott Hit With Another Norvir Lawsuit By *JOHN CARREYROU*
October 30, 2007; Page D3

Four big pharmacy chains and one pharmaceutical wholesaler filed a lawsuit
against Abbott Laboratories<http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=abt>,
alleging the drug maker abused its monopoly in the market for AIDS drugs
when it raised the price of one of its products fivefold in 2003.

Abbott has already been sued by two AIDS patients and the Service Employees
International Union Health and Welfare Fund. That suit, in U.S. District
Court in Oakland, Calif., has class-action status and is scheduled to go to
trial in June.

In the complaint filed yesterday,
Safeway<http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=swy>Inc.,
Walgreen <http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=WAG> Co.,
Kroger <http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=kr> Co.,
Supervalu <http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=svu>Inc.'s
New Albertson's Inc. and American Sales Co. allege that Abbott
"unlawfully extended its monopoly position as the sole provider of Norvir,"
an AIDS drug used in so-called cocktails with drugs made by other companies,
by raising its price 400% in December 2003. Norvir's U.S. wholesale price
rose to $257.10 from $51.30 for 30 100-milligram capsules.

Norvir, which received Food and Drug Administration approval in 1996, is in
a class of drugs known as protease inhibitors. Side effects prevented it
from being used as a stand-alone drug, but it became widely used in small
doses to boost the effectiveness of other protease inhibitors. In 2000,
Abbott introduced Kaletra, a pill that includes Norvir.

Abbott's decision to quintuple Norvir's price in the U.S. made Kaletra a
cheaper option for American AIDS patients, as it raised the cost of regimens
pairing Norvir with rivals' drugs by several thousand dollars a year.

Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel said the suit is without merit.

In January, The Wall Street Journal reported that Abbott discussed two
alternatives to a Norvir price increase. One was to sell Norvir only as a
liquid, which one Abbott executive said tasted like vomit. That would have
discouraged use of Norvir with competitors' drugs, Abbott executives
reasoned. Another was to stop selling Norvir altogether. Abbott says it
never seriously considered those scenarios. It also says competitors' drugs
have since gained market share.

--Avery Johnson contributed to this story.

*Write to *John Carreyrou at john.carreyrou@wsj.com