[Ip-health] Colombian NGOs sue government for Kaletra compulsory license

[peter maybarduk]

Bogot=E1, Colombia =96 Wednesday, September 16, 2009 =96

Today, NGOs, attorneys and activists filed suit in Colombian court to
compel the government to authorize price-lowering generic competition
with Abbott Laboratories' costly HIV/AIDS treatment Kaletra (lopinavir
+ritonavir, LPV/r).

The "acci=F3n popular"  demands an open compulsory license allowing any
producer that can demonstrate drug safety and efficacy and good
manufacturing practices to use patented technology to bring generic
LPV/r to market.

Abbott enjoys a LPV/r monopoly in Colombia, where Kaletra, a key
second-line HIV/AIDS medicine, ranks consistently among the health
system's most expensive annual medicine purchases and routinely sells
for well over $3,000 per person per year.  Global competitive prices
have dropped under $500.  Earlier this year, in response to Colombian
NGOS administrative request for a compulsory license, the Colombian
government imposed price ceilings on the drug =96 approximately $1,000
for public sector sales and $1,600 for the private sector.  But
recent reports suggest Abbott has violated the price order in its
transactions with at least some purchasers.  The National Commission
on Medicine Prices is investigating.

The eighty-page acci=F3n popular cites state failures to provide for
Constitutional and collective rights to health.  It names the health
ministry, patent office, drug regulatory authority and Abbott
Laboratories as defendants.  Plaintiffs include Fundaci=F3n IFARMA,
Fundaci=F3n Misi=F3n Salud, RECOLVIH (Colombian network of people living
with HIV/AIDS), and attorneys Luz Marina Umbas=EDa (in her personal
capacity), Giomar Ang=E9lica Aguilar and Germ=E1n Rinc=F3n Perfetti.

We will update lists on the suit's progress and provide more
information soon.   With questions, English speakers can contact
Peter Maybarduk at Essential Action
(peter.maybarduk@essentialinformation.org) or Francisco Rossi of the
Colombian Foundation IFARMA, a plaintiff in the suit
(francisco_rossi@hotmail.com).