Abbott Laboratories won't introduce new drugs in Thailand because of patent dispute

U.S. drug maker Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday it won't launch new medicines in Thailand in response to the military-installed government's decision not to honor the company's patent for an AIDS drug.

"Thailand has revoked the patent on our medicine, ignoring the patent system. Under these circumstances, we have elected not to introduce new medicines there," said Dirk Van Eeden, public affairs director of Abbott International.

The company's move ill not affect medicines that are already available in Thailand, where earlier this year the government issued a so-called "compulsory licenses" allowing the breaking of patents on two drugs.

The government move allows the production or purchase of much cheaper generic versions of the drugs, one of which is Abbott's AIDS drug Kaletra. The other drug is blood thinner Plavix, marketed by France's Sanofi-Aventis SA and U.S. drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Thailand's Health Ministry said it had not been informed of Abbott's decision.

"But I am not surprised. It is one of the reactions that we have anticipated," said Thawat Suntrajarn, director-general of the Department of Communicable Disease Control. "We will not be affected since there are many other companies we can choose to buy medicines from ... if anything, they would lose out on their market share here."

Public health officials said issuance of compulsory licenses was justified under international trade rules because the drugs' high cost constituted a crisis for the country's health sector. More than 500,000 people in Thailand are living with HIV, according to UNAIDS, the U.N. agency that coordinates the global fight against the deadly virus.

According to the World Trade Organization's agreements on intellectual property, a government may issue a compulsory license allowing the manufacture, import and sale of generic versions of drugs in case of a national public health emergency. Such action has been taken by several countries, most notably Brazil and India, especially in the case of HIV medicines.

Activists accused Abbott of depriving poor people of lifesaving medications.

"This is a new low, and I am horrified ... Abbott has the hubris to blacklist a courageous country like Thailand simply trying to do the right thing for its people," said Michael Weinstein, the president of the U.S. based AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

"Abbott's move goes to show that they take no social responsibility and only care about maximum profit, especially since Thailand has not broken any laws or trade agreements," said Kamol Upakaew, an AIDS activist and former president of the Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

Abbott had engaged in negotiations about price reductions with Thai officials following the issuance of the compulsory license for Kaletra but no agreement was reached, according to a Thai health official.

Sombat Thanprasertsuk, director of the Thai government's AIDS bureau, said that the company and his office have not been in contact since Feb. 8.

According to a statement by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Abbott was willing to cut $200 off the $2,200 per patient annual cost of Kaletra. It is estimated that with Thailand's compulsory license, a generic version of Kaletra can be produced at around $1,000 per patient.

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Associated Press Writer Dikky Sinn in Hong Kong contributed to this report.