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April 2007
In cooperation with the World Health Organization, Abbott has agreed to provide its HIV medicine Kaletra/Aluvia to more patients in the developing world by reducing the price to $1,000 in 40 low and low-middle income countries. 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.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan approached the global health care company as a means of improving affordability and access while maintaining incentives to support developing new medicines.
Abbott will offer governments and NGOs a new price for Kaletra/Aluvia capsules and tablets that is less than half the previously announced reduced price of $2,200 per patient, per year. This price is significantly lower than that offered by the manufacturers of generic versions of lopinavir/ritonavir, none of which has been WHO pre-qualified or approved by a stringent regulatory authority.
Abbott is taking this action in order 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. The patents of scientists and inventors must exist so that there are incentives for sustained research and development. Without this system, the miracle drugs the world enjoys today, including HIV medicines, would not exist.
Abbott's access price for Africa and the Least Developed Countries remains the current no-profit price of $500 per patient, per year.
Kaletra capsules are currently registered in 118 countries, making it the most widely registered HIV medicine, according to WHO data, and Abbott plans to register it in more than 150 countries.
For more details on this agreement, go to: http://abbott.com/global/url/pressRelease/en_US/60.5:5/Press_Release_0442.htm
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