[Ip-health] AHF press release on CL requests for Kaletra in Colombia and Mexico
James Love
james.love@keionline.org
Tue Jan 27 20:57:29 2009
I saw this on the business wire.... jamie
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Abbott Drug Pricing Condemned by AIDS Advocates in International
Protests
In Coordinated Actions Wednesday, Protesters in Mexico, Colombia and the
US Demand that Abbott Lowers the Price of Its Key AIDS Drug Kaletra;
Advocates Otherwise Vow to Seek Compulsory Licenses in Colombia and
Mexico
Last update: 8:33 p.m. EST Jan. 27, 2009
CHICAGO, Jan 27, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --In US, AHF to Also Premiere
60 Second Video Parody Blasting Abbott and CEO Miles White on YouTube
and Place Spot as TV Commercial on Select Chicago Area Television
Stations
As part of an ongoing multinational campaign to lower drug prices and
improve access to lifesaving AIDS treatments globally, AIDS advocates
from three countries--Colombia, Mexico and the United States--are
holding simultaneous protests today in each of the three countries
targeting Chicago-based pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories over
the pricing of its AIDS drug, Kaletra, which can be a key component of
lifesaving AIDS drug treatment regimens, particularly as part of what
are known as 'second-line' treatments and salvage therapy.
Abbott Protest Schedules/Locations--US
-- UNITED STATES--Chicago
WHAT: Protest re: Abbott's AIDS Drug Pricing of Kaletra
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan 28, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: in front of the home of
Abbott CEO Miles D. White
1313 North Green Bay Road
Lake Forest IL 60045
VISUALS: 3ft x 5ft "Shame on Abbott" placards & banners; also,
release of TV commercial/video parody of Abbott and its CEO
Miles
White
POST-PROTEST Press Conference & Teleconference Call-- CHICAGO
What: Follow Up POST-PROTEST Press Teleconference Call--
Multinational Protests re: Abbott Laboratories' AIDS Drug
Pricing,
Release of Parody Video
Where: Hotel Allegro, Cinema Room #1 (3rd Floor) 171
W Randolph St, Chicago IL 60601
When: 1:00 PM (Central & Mexico Time, 2:00 pm Colombia
time)--Wednesday, January 28th
How: Teleconference Dial in information
US Callers
+1.877.411.9748 participant code #7931503
International Toll Callers
+.1.636.651.3128 participant code #7931503
Advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the group coordinating
the US protest in the Chicago area (which is being supported by local
student activists who have been involved in the AIDS drug pricing issue)
will also release a sixty second video parody lambasting Abbott and its
CEO, Miles D. White over the drug giant's continuing coldhearted actions
on the pricing of its key AIDS drugs. The video parody will premiere
publicly for the first time when it is posted on YouTube Wednesday in
conjunction with the coordinated international protests in the three
countries. The spot will then also run as a paid television commercial
on select Chicago area television stations. Link to a preview of the
video parody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cJXSKIDcNU
"People may not be aware that Abbott is abusing NAFTA's patent
protections to charge five times as much for Kaletra in Mexico as it
does in other middle-income countries, keeping this lifesaving drug out
of reach for nearly all those living with HIV/AIDS in Mexico," said
Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President. "We hope these
simultaneous international protests in Mexico, Colombia and the US will
help bring about an end to Abbott's price-gouging policies in Mexico and
Colombia that shamefully continue to place profits ahead of saving
lives."
"Many patients living here in Mexico depend on access to drugs such as
Kaletra that are available elsewhere at a much, much lower cost," said
Patricia Campos, M.D., AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Latin America Bureau
Chief, who is based in Mexico and is a principal coordinator of today's
Abbott protest in Mexico City. "We are strongly urging Abbott to
immediately lower the price of Kaletra in Mexico to equal the price
offered to Brazil in order to ensure that people in need in Mexico are
not priced out of such potential lifesaving AIDS treatments."
"Through these coordinated, grassroots international protests today, we
want to loudly and clearly remind Abbott, its employees and the general
public that the lives of people living with--and dying from--HIV/AIDS in
Mexico and Colombia are just as important as those of people living with
AIDS here in the United States. As a result, we are asking Abbott to
reduce the price of Kaletra in those two countries," said Terri Ford,
Director of Global Advocacy for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "We
literally want to bring this message home to Abbott and its executives.
That is why our Chicago protest is taking place in front of the Lake
Forest home of Abbott CEO Miles D. White."
Abbott has long been the target of multinational protests and legal
actions over the pricing of its AIDS drugs including Kaletra and Norvir.
Over the past several years as many of Abbott's industry peers have
significantly lowered the prices of their own lifesaving AIDS medicines
on their own volition and in response to worldwide humanitarian need,
Abbott has remained steadfast in its refusal to do so, or it has
countered advocates' and governments' demands with only modest price
reductions.
According to the website, www.aidsmeds.com, "Kaletra, a protease
inhibitor (sold under the brand name Aluvia in some parts of the world),
is actually two drugs combined into a single capsule: lopinavir and low
doses of ritonavir (Norvir), another protease inhibitor manufactured by
Abbott Laboratories. This is because ritonavir increases the amount of
lopinavir in the blood, thus making it more effective against HIV."
Abbott Laboratories and Kaletra
-- Abbott's Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) is considered to be the
premier second-line treatment for HIV worldwide due not only to its
efficacy and low side-effects but also its reduced pill burden. Due to
its high price (typically four to six times more than other treatments)
it is not been widely included in national treatments programs and those
who developed resistance to other treatments in these countries have had
few options.
-- Worldwide sales of Kaletra in 2006 alone were over $1 Billion,(1)
while projections estimate the market for HIV Drugs to reach $10 Billion
by 2015.
-- Abbott charges $1,000 per patient per year for Kaletra in most
middle-income countries and $500 per patient per year in low-income
nations.(2) Generic lopinivar/ritonavir costs $600 per patient per
year.(3) In Mexico and Colombia, Abbott charges $5,400 and $3,500 per
patient per year, respectively. On January 28, 2009, activists in
Mexico, Colombia, and the United States will petition Abbott to lower
these prices and the respective governments to break the patents country
so that the medicine is available to all who need it. 21,000 people per
year die of AIDS in the two countries.
Kaletra in Mexico
-- Mexico is a middle income country with an average income per capita
of $7,454 per year.(4) 200,000 people are living with AIDS. HIV
prevalence is 0.3% and 11,000 people die each year die from AIDS in the
country.(5)
-- Mexico is unable to provide antiretroviral therapy to those who need
it. UNAIDS estimates that 33,000 people with AIDS who need ARV therapy
now (43% of the total), are not currently accessing it in Mexico.(6)
Mexico's government is spending $155 million each year for AIDS
drugs.(7)
-- Abbott charges Mexico an exorbitant $5,400 per patient per year, the
same price it charged in 2003.(8) This over 5x the $1,000 per patient
per year which it charges in other countries in Latin America (Including
Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, and Ecuador) and over
10x the price it charges in Africa, Haiti, and Cambodia.(9)
-- In contrast, ALL other drug companies have offered significant price
reductions on their medications. Advocacy and negotiations between the
Mexican Government and the major pharmaceutical companies resulted in
significant drops in price in 2008 alone. For instance, GlaxoSmithKline
accepted a 40% price reduction for Abacavir while Merck, Sharpe, and
Dohme accepted a 40% price reduction for Efavirenz.(10)
-- The Mexican Coalicion de Activistas por el Aceso Universal en
VIH/SIDA demands that Abbott reduce its prices and the Mexican
Government to issue a compulsory license for Kaletra.
Kaletra in Colombia
-- Colombia is a lower-middle income country with an average income per
capita of $2,600 per year.(11) The country has one of the most serious
HIV/AIDS problems in the region: 170,000 people living with AIDS and a
rapidly rising HIV prevalence (currently 0.7%).(12) An average of 10,000
people each year die from AIDS in the country.(13)
-- Colombia is unable to provide antiretroviral therapy to those who
need it. UNAIDS estimates that 33,000 people with AIDS who need ARV
therapy now (62% of the total) are not currently accessing it.(14)
Colombia's government is spending $70 million each year for AIDS drugs
(all national funding).(15)
-- Abbott promotes Colombia as receiving a preferred price of $1,000 per
patient per year for lower-middle income countries on its website.(16)
However, in reality Abbott charged Colombia $8,400 per patient per year
up through mid-2007.(17) (18) Abbott is currently charging $3,500 in
Colombia.(19)
-- Abbott uses unorthodox and unethical marketing strategies in Colombia
to promote Kaletra. This includes offering classes, dinners, and trips
to patients on Kaletra.(20) As a result, Kaletra is the 2nd-most widely
prescribed AIDS medicine in Colombia, highly unusual for a 2nd-line
medication. Kaletra accounts for 1/3 of Colombia's AIDS drug costs.(21)
-- On April 7, 2008, the Mesa de Organizacions con Trabajo en VIH/SIDA
and the Red Colombiana de Personas Viviendo con VIH o con SIDA requested
an open license on Kaletra. The local Colombian generics industry has
the capacity to manufacture Kaletra at much lower costs AND Colombia has
an agreement with the Clinton Foundation through which it could get a
generic version of Kaletra for approximately $600 per patient per
year.(22) Abbott did not respond.
-- The Mesa de Organizaciones con Trabajo en VIH/SIDA, the Red
Colombiana de Personas Viviendo con VIH o con SIDA, Mission Salud, and
IFARMA requested a compulsory license for Kaletra from the Ministry of
Commerce. The Ministry of Commerce has requested the Ministry of Social
Protection to rule whether or not Kaletra is a medication "in the public
interest." The ruling is expected in early 2009.
Abbott Protest Schedules/Locations--Mexico & Colombia
-- MEXICO--Mexico City
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009 at 11 a.m.
Further data to follow in subsequent news release.
INFORMATION: 55 16 83 25 01 and 55 14 79 61 85
email: coalicion.activistas@gmail.com
-- COLOMBIA--Bogota
Protest Against Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A.
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009 at 10 a.m.
Abbott de Colombia, S.A.
Calle 100 #9A-45, 14th Floor, Bogota, Colombia (NOTE: Protest will be in
the street, not in the building)
Contacts:
SPANISH LANGUAGE
Luz Marina Umbral at +57 55 315 323 5765
licencia.obligatoria.colombia@gmail.com
ENGLISH/SPANISH
Francisco Rossi, PhD at +57 52 338 1490
Clint Trout +57 318 755 8861
(1) From Abbott's fourth quarter 2006 financial reporting.
(2)
http://www.abbott.com/global/url/content/en_US/40.5.10:10/general_content/General_Content_00327.htm
(3) Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative. www.clintonfoundation.org
(4) United Nations Development Program ( www.undp.org)
(5) UNAIDS
http://www.unaids.org/en/CountryResponses/Countries/default.asp
(6) World Health Organization (April 2008). Universal Access Report.
(7) 2008 UNGASS Report, Mexico.
(8) http://www.censida.salud.gob.mx/interior/arv.html
(9)
http://www.abbott.com/global/url/content/en_US/40.5.10:10/general_content/General_Content_00327.htm
(10) Mino F. (December 8, 2008). Medicamentos: El muro de los precios y
las recetas para brincarlo. La Jornada. Mexico.
(11) United Nations Development Program ( www.undp.org)
(12) Resumen de Situacion de la Epidemia por VIH/SIDA en Colombia. (Dec
2007) Ministerio de Proteccion Social, Colombia.
(13) UNAIDS
http://www.unaids.org/en/CountryResponses/Countries/default.asp
(14) World Health Organization (April 2008). Universal Access Report.
(15) 2008 UNGASS Report, Colombia.
(16)
http://www.abbott.com/global/url/content/en_US/40.5.10:10/general_content/General_Content_00327.htm
(17) Garavito, L, Gomez, F. (2006) Analisis regulatorio del mercardo
institucional de medicamentos antiretrovirales en Colombia.
(18) Personal Communication with Abbott Laboratories in Colombia.
(19) Local price survey.
(20) AHF can provide 1st hand accounts on request.
(21) Garavito, L, Gomez, F. (2006) Analisis regulatorio del mercardo
institucional de medicamentos antiretrovirales en Colombia.
\(22) Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative. www.clintonfoundation.org
SOURCE: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Mexico:
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Dra. Patricia Campos Lopez
Chief Latin American Bureau
Guadalajara, MEXICO
MX direct 01152 33 35 85 31 17
U.S. mobile 1213-361-2524
MX mobile 01152 33 34 82 92 07
patricia.campos@aidshealth.org
or
Colombia:
Clint Trout
Candidate for Doctor of Public Health
Boston University
Colombia Mobile +57 318 755 8861
ctrout@bu.edu
or
United States:
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Ged Kenslea
Communications Director
Los Angeles, CA, USA
+1.323.860.5225 (work)
+1.323.791.5526 (mobile)
gedk@aidshealth.org
--
James Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International
http://www.keionline.org | mailto:james.love at keionline.org
Wk: +1.202.332.2671 | US Mobile +1.202.361.3040 | Geneva Mobile +41.76.413.6584