Abbott Statement
Status of Lopinavir/Ritonavir in Thailand
May 25, 2007 — Abbott has been promoting health and providing life extending treatments to Thailand for more than 40 years. We are committed to providing world-class innovations for the people of Thailand.
We have been engaged in an active and constructive dialogue with the Thai Ministry of Public Health over the last several months to make HIV/AIDS treatments more affordable for the Government of Thailand while preserving the patent system that enables the discovery of new medicines.
Abbott's latest innovative HIV therapy Kaletra/Aluvia has been officially offered to the Government of Thailand at a cost of $1,000 per patient per year. This represents a 55 percent cost reduction from the current price of Abbott's Kaletra treatment. The new Aluvia product represents numerous technological advancements from the original Kaletra product, including heat stabilization for storage in non-refrigerated facilities. Abbott welcomes Thai government assurances that it will not issue additional compulsory licenses. This is essential because it recognizes the need for future innovation.
Aluvia is the only treatment of its kind to be approved for safe and effective treatment of HIV. Aluvia has been approved for safe and effective use in the treatment of HIV by the United States Food and Drug Administration, the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medical Products and the World Health Organization. Abbott is working in cooperation with the Government of Thailand to have the product approved by Thailand's Food and Drug Administration so that patients in Thailand may begin to use this new medical innovation.
Abbott has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in both novel technology and in manufacturing capacity to provide second-line therapy to the growing number of patients who need it worldwide. As Thailand's National Science and Technology Development Agency stated this week, the patents of scientists and inventors must exist so that there are incentives for sustained research and development. Abbott's approach provides fair pricing and access to medicines while maintaining the levels of investment required to support the ongoing work of scientists and inventors in biopharmaceutical research and development. Without this system, the miracle drugs the world enjoys today, including HIV medicines, would not exist.
