L'accord sur Kaletra® n'efface pas la dispute entre la Thaïlande et Abbott
(Wall Street Journal Europe, International Herald Tribune - 12 avril 2007)
Le Wall Street Journal Europe revient aujourd'hui sur le compromis passé
entre l'OMS et l'américain Abbott, au terme duquel le laboratoire s'est
engagé à vendre son antisida Kaletra® (lopinavir et ritonavir) à bas prix
dans les pays pauvres (voir revue de presse du 11 avril 2007). Une
quarantaine de pays est concernée, dont la Thaïlande, qui menaçait le groupe
d'appliquer une licence obligatoire sur Kaletra® afin de permettre sa
générification et des prix plus bas pour ses malades. Malgré tout, Abbott
reste sur ses positions et poursuit la suspension de toute nouvelle demande
d'homologation dans le pays. La pression exercée par la Thaïlande - et
quelques pays comme l'Indonésie, la Malaisie, le Brésil, la Zambie... -
semble avoir profité aux populations jusqu'à présent. Ainsi, le suisse
Novartis a annoncé une réduction de 75 % du prix de son anticancéreux
Glivec® (imatinib) et Merck&Co parle également d'une baisse de tarif pour
l'antisida Sustiva® (efavirenz). Le gouvernement se félicite du mouvement
qu'il a produit dans le monde pharmaceutique et précise : "il ne sert à rien
de négocier avec les industries pharmaceutiques à moins de commencer en
annonçant votre volonté d'utiliser les licences obligatoire. Là, elles
acceptent de parler avec vous".
Thailand Weighs Offer for AIDS Drugs
By GRANT PECK
AP
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BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thai health officials said Tuesday that the
government would consider an offer by U.S. drug maker Abbott Laboratories to
supply Thailand and other countries with its AIDS-fighting drugs at a
discounted price.
Abbott earlier Tuesday announced that after consulting with the U.N.'s World
Health Organization, it had decided to offer its drug Kaletra, also known as
lopinavir, and Aluvia, also known as ritonavir, at a reduced price in the
developing world.
"The company today offered to lower its price for its AIDS drug Kaletra from
5,938 baht ($181) per patient per month to 3,488.20 baht ($107) per patient
per month which could end up being cheaper than its generic version," Dr.
Siriwat Tiptaradol, secretary-general of Thailand's Food and Drug
Administration, was quoted saying in a news release from his agency.
The offer appeared to be a breakthrough in ending a dispute between Thailand
and Abbott over the high price of Kaletra.
Thailand earlier this year announced it was breaking the patent on Kaletra
so it could provide cheaper generic versions of the drug to those in need.
Abbott responded by declaring it would not introduce any new drugs in
Thailand because it failed to honor its intellectual property rights.
Thailand's position drew much criticism from the local and foreign business
community, while Abbott's action drew a firestorm of protest from health
activists.
Siriwat said that Illinois-based Abbott's stance is that it wants to see a
balance between the honoring of patents and public access to its medicine.
Siriwat added that the FDA will forward the offer to the Public Health
Ministry for further deliberation.
The ministry in January issued so-called "compulsory licenses" allowing the
use of much cheaper generic versions of Kaletra, as well as the blood
thinner Plavix, marketed by France's Sanofi-Aventis SA and U.S. drug maker
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
According to World Trade Organization agreements on intellectual property, a
government may issue a compulsory license in case of a national public
health emergency. Such action has been taken by several countries, most
notably Brazil and India, especially for AIDS medicines.
A news release from Abbott said the company will offer its AIDS drugs to
NGOs and governments of more than 40 low and low-middle income countries at
a price of $1,000 per patient per year.
"This price is lower than any generic price available in the world today for
this medicine and is approximately 55 percent less than the average current
price for these countries," it said, adding that Thailand is one of the
countries being offered the discount.
"Abbott did not say that they wanted us to revoke the compulsory license.
There was no condition. They were just here to offer the price reduction so
that people can have access to their medicines," Dr. Suchart Chongprasert,
another Thai FDA official, told The Associated Press.
"We want to thank the company for their understanding of our position and
the offer that they made which will benefit Thai patients," he said.
Abbott's statement said the company was acting "to further increase access
and address the debate around pricing of HIV medicines: by increasing
affordability while preserving the system that enables the discovery of new
medicines."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.