Group Questions Abbott's Agreement With Thai Government

Despite Abbott Laboratories' recent decision to cut the price of one of its HIV drugs in Thailand, an activist group is questioning the drugmaker's "quid pro quo" approach of lowering drug prices in exchange for halting compulsory licensing.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which operates free HIV treatment clinics in Asia and elsewhere, has chastised Abbott's offer to the Thai government to lower the price of Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) to approximately $1,000 per patient per year. The AHF pointed out that the agreementis contingent on Abbott's demand that Thailand immediately halt issuing compulsory licenses for the manufacture of generic versions of various drugs.

Abbott is still withholding several new drugs from regulatory approval in Thailand — including Aluvia, the heat-stable version of Kaletra — following unsuccessful drug price negotiations with Thailand.

"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," Michael Weinstein, the group's president, said.

Aluvia was in the process of being approved in Thailand when the government issued the compulsory licenses, the group added. Approval of the drug would remove the requirement of maintaining expensive cold storage.