[e-drug] Abbott Escalates Thai Patent Rift

["E-Drug" <e-drug@healthnet.org>]

E-DRUG: Abbott Escalates Thai Patent Rift
-----------------------------------------
[The Thai government and Abbott are fighting about drug prices, and the
right of the Thai government to issue compulsory licenses to make generic
versions of patented medicines. The Doha declaration allows governments to
put public health above business or trade. But drug companies do not like
it.

Abbott is now refusing to sell potentially life-saving medicines to
Thailand. This seems a strange position for a drug industry, and one that
will be frowned upon by many. It is also undefensible from an ethical point
of view.

Anyway, it now makes it easy for the Thai government to issue even more
compulsory licenses, as the refusal to market a patented product is always a
valid reason to issue a compulsory license!

Below a viewpoint from the Wall Street Journal, copied as fair use. 
WB]


Abbott Escalates Thai Patent Rift
Firm Pulls Plans
To Offer New Drugs
In Spat With Regime
By NICHOLAS ZAMISKA
March 14, 2007; Page A9

A decision by Abbott Laboratories not to launch any new medicines in
Thailand raises the stakes in a growing battle over patents between
multinational drug companies and the country's military-installed
government.

The unusual tactic also puts Abbott in the awkward position of refusing to
sell drugs for sick people in Thailand in order to protest the actions of
the country's government.

The drug maker said it has withdrawn its drug applications from the
government-review process after the government revoked the company's patent
for its blockbuster AIDS medication. Abbott has no plans to stop selling
drugs that are on the market.

The Thai government, which took power following a military coup last year,
said in January that it would suspend patent protections for two drugs in
order to make them more widely available to patients who need them. These
were the AIDS treatment Kaletra, made by Abbott, based in Abbott Park, Ill.,
and Plavix, a blood-thinning drug originally developed by Sanofi-Aventis SA,
of France, and co-marketed in several countries by New York-based
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

In certain situations, including national emergencies, World Trade
Organization rules allow a government to unilaterally make or sell patented
drugs without the permission of the drug companies. However, pharmaceutical
companies have criticized Thailand for stretching the scope of those rules.

Because the Thai government "decided not to support innovation by breaking
the patents, Abbott will not submit applications or register new medicines
and will withdraw current applications in Thailand until the government
changes its position," said Jennifer Smoter, a spokeswoman for Abbott.

Abbott has withdrawn its applications for seven medicines, including a new
formulation of Kaletra, the AIDS treatment, according to Ms. Smoter. Abbott
notified the Thai government a few weeks ago, after talks between the two
sides broke down, a person familiar with the matter said.

Abbott risks drawing criticism for a decision that may keep lifesaving drugs
from patients who need them.

"It's not good for anyone, even the American company, because they will lose
the market," said Thawat Suntrajarn, director general of the Ministry of
Health's department of disease control, who said he was unaware of Abbott's
decision. Dr. Thawat said the Thai government would continue to seek
generics makers able to produce the equivalent of Kaletra.

"I'm actually lost for words, if they really are going to do this," said
Paul Cawthorne, the head of the Thailand operation of Doctors Without
Borders, which has campaigned for access to cheaper medicines. "For me, it's
just evil. It's appalling. If they really are going to do this, it reflects
so badly on the multinational companies."

Mr. Cawthorne said that in recent months, Abbott assured him the new
formulation of Kaletra would be made available in Thailand by this summer.
Older AIDS drugs are often left ineffective as the virus that causes the
disease evolves. Abbott says it won't pull the older version of Kaletra from
the Thai market. It adds that both versions of the drug are equally
effective; the prime difference is that the new version is more convenient
to take.

Abbott sells a yearlong supply of Kaletra to Thai patients for $2,200, less
than half the $7,000 that the drug costs patients in the U.S., according to
the company. Abbott sells the drug at an even-deeper discount, $500 a person
a year, in certain countries in Africa, including Malawi and Kenya. The
News: Abbott won't launch new medicines in Thailand after the government
revoked a patent for its AIDS medication. The Consequence: The company risks
criticism for a decision that may keep life-saving drugs from patients who
need them. The Concern: Industry executives say the decision effectively
steals drugs from the companies that own them.

While Abbott has clashed with governments before, its decision to not sell
some new drugs in Thailand is unusual. In July 2005, the U.S. company
reached an agreement with Brazil that lowered the price of Kaletra while
preserving the company's patent on the drug.

Pharmaceutical executives say the Thai government's decision, which they say
effectively steals the drugs from the companies that own them, has left the
industry with little choice.

"What the government is doing is very shortsighted," said Teera
Chakajnarodom, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers
Association, an industry group in Bangkok. "The patients will need newer
generations of antivirals" for treating AIDS but won't have access to them,
he said. "This is serious for the health care of Thailand in the future."
Dr. Teera said he was told yesterday by Abbott of its decision to withdraw
its applications.

It is unclear whether other big pharmaceutical companies doing business in
Thailand will follow Abbott's lead.

"They are all looking at" the situation, said Robert Broadfoot, managing
director of Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd., based in Hong
Kong. While none of the companies like what is going on, "they all want to
do business in Thailand, but it's got to be on what they consider acceptable
terms," he said.

Mr. Broadfoot said he doesn't have any pharmaceutical companies as clients
but speaks with executives in the industry.

Jean-Marc Podvin, a spokesman for Sanofi-Aventis in Paris, said it was "too
soon to tell" whether Sanofi would follow Abbott's lead, adding that Sanofi
is "evaluating the options."

Write to Nicholas Zamiska at nicholas.zamiska@wsj.com