Abbott Laboratories plays hardball with Thai government over antiretroviral drug .
In response to Thailand’s recent decision to grant itself a compulsory license for Abbott Laboratories’ antiretroviral drug, Kaletra, Abbott has withdrawn its application to sell seven new drugs on the Thailand market. The drugs included a newer version of Kaletra, an antibiotic, and drugs to treat blood clots, kidney disease, and high blood pressure. Abbott spokesperson, Jennifer Smoter, defended the company’s decision by saying that since 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."
Abbott’s decision does not exactly exemplify public relations genius. On the contrary, Abbott's actions reek of spite and a basic disregard for the health of the Thai people. Pharmaceutical companies are known to commit a large portion of their resources to marketing and communications, which makes such a gaffe surprising.
With the North American public’s increasing awareness of the devastation that AIDS and other infectious diseases are having on developing countries, large pharmaceutical companies’ arguments to protect its market share are ringing increasingly hollow (Brook K Baker does an excellent job of responding to Big Pharma’s protests ). Countries need to do what is necessary to protect the health and the lives of its people and no one, with a shred of morality, will blame them for putting their people before Big Pharma’s profits.
Perhaps it is time for pharmaceutical companies to hire visionaries who can steer them back towards the cutting edge. Their decision to dig in their heels and fight generic drugs is reminiscent of the music industry’s fight against downloading a few years ago. The protests of multimillionaires who complained of a loss of income from free downloads were not exactly greeted with bleeding hearts from their fan base. Rather, their insistence on clinging to the past was met with alienated fans and decreased CD sales. Those companies who were able to show some foresight and ingenuity, like Apple and Nettwerk, were able to increase their profits in changing times.
Pharmaceutical companies would do well to follow the examples of the Apples and Nettwerks of the world. The cooperation between pharmaceutical companies, governments, and non-profit organizations is becoming key in these changing times. Glaxo-Smith Kline has shown that this is possible through its work with PATH on vaccines for malaria. However, this is only a small dose of what is needed. If pharmaceutical companies began to use their creativity, vast resources, and collective knowledge to take of advantage of the current trends, they might be able to come up with a solution that would work for everyone: profits for them and good health for everybody else.
