Abbott continues drug blacklist in Thailand, says AIDS Healthcare Foundation

AIDS Healthcare Foundation has chastised Abbott Laboratories for its 'quid pro quo' offer to the Government of Thailand to lower its price for Abbott's key AIDS drug, Aluvia (a heat-stable tablet version of Kaletra) to approximately USD$800 per patient per year -- an offer contingent upon Abbott's demand that Thailand immediately halt issuing compulsory licenses for the generic manufacture of this lifesaving drug.

Abbott, vowed to continue its drug blacklist against the people of Thailand, however, by halting the registration of several other new Abbott drugs in Thailand by continuing to withhold those drugs from regulatory approval in that country, a punitive action taken last month by Abbott following unsuccessful drug price negotiations between Abbott and the Government of Thailand on pricing of several of Abbott's drugs.

"It appears that Abbott is wavering on its previous offer to reduce the price and increase the availability of Kaletra and Aluvia in Thailand and backing out of its offer piece by piece," said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation's President. "Abbott took a huge hit from AIDS activists and advocates the world over when it first announced its drug blacklist against the people of Thailand last month, and the company bowed to pressure from activists by quickly announcing price cuts on its AIDS drugs in Thailand and 40 other low and lower middle-income countries. We fully support Thailand's right to exercise flexibility in promoting public health by issuing these compulsory licenses. We ask Abbott to immediately back off this 'quid pro quo' offer which holds Thai people in need of this lifesaving AIDS medicine hostage. We also question Abbott's real commitment to 'turning science into caring' -- Abbott's hollow corporate slogan -- when the company continues its blacklist on six other drugs in Thailand."

Abbott's move to block its new drugs from being approved for use in Thailand has the potential to be devastating to the fight against AIDS in that hard-hit country. The urgent issue for HIV/AIDS patients in Thailand revolves around the heat-stable form of Abbott's drug, Kaletra, (called Aluvia), which was in the process of being approved for use in Thailand when the government issued compulsory the licenses.

"Without Aluvia in the arsenal of drugs to fight HIV/AIDS, Thailand will now have to maintain expensive cold storage for the drug, and poorer infected populations, who often cannot afford refrigeration, will continue to go without access to any form of Kaletra," said Homayoon Khanlou, MD, AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Associate Director of Medicine. "With drug resistance a major concern for those living with HIV, consistent access to such lifesaving medications is crucial."

In the Asia-Pacific region, AIDS Healthcare Foundation currently provides free anti-retroviral treatment through its clinics in India, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam.