AHF advocates to attend drug giant Abbott Laboratories' Annual General Meeting

A group of advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will attend drug giant Abbott Laboratories' Annual General Meeting Friday April 29 at 9:00am in Abbott Park, Illinois (Abbott Headquarters, 100 Abbott Park Road) planning to speak at and question Abbott executives regarding Abbott's pricing and policies on its HIV/AIDS medications. In light of the severe crisis facing the nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), a network of federal and state funded programs that provide life-saving HIV treatments to low income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS nationwide, the advocates plan to speak during the 'question and answer' section of the AGM to press Abbott CEO Miles D. White on the company's current pricing for ADAP for its blockbuster HIV/AIDS drug, Kaletra (lopinavir & ritonavir)—currently $6,400 per patient, per year for the hard-hit assistance programs.

As of April 22^nd, there are nearly 7,700 low-income AIDS patients in 11 states who have been placed on waiting lists to access lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications through the nation's network of ADAPs. However, in a particularly Dickensian move, several states have recently capped further enrollment in their ADAPs or are sharply reducing eligibility for their programs based on a percentage of Federal Poverty Level (FPL) income (in some cases cutting the FPL-eligible income from 400% to 200%), effectively denying needy patients access to medications, yet because enrollment is officially capped—or eligibility eliminated—these additional patients are never formally added to the states' ADAP wait list rosters.

AHF Question for Abbott and CEO Miles D. White
The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) is in the midst of a financial crisis that has left nearly 10,000 HIV patients without reliable access to their medicines. For example, right here in Illinois, the state recently announced that it will lower its ADAP eligibility, effectively blocking new patients from accessing the program.

Many of the patients reliant on ADAP take Kaletra, which has generated millions in revenue for Abbott. However, at a cost of over $6,400 per year, ADAP can no longer afford to pay for this and other Abbott drugs without price relief. Given that Kaletra is sold "at cost" for $400 per year in developing countries, Abbott can lower the price significantly and still make a huge profit, yet it has not.

Why has Abbott refused to lower the price of Kaletra for the ADAP program?

Other Abbott Facts:

• All-time Kaletra Revenue (U.S. and Global) = $8 billion.
• Kaletra ADAP Price: $6,400 per year (2008).
• Abbott's Profit Margin: 13%
• Miles White Total Compensation for 2010: $25.5M (Forbes)