Abbott: Stop the Intimidation! We will not be silenced!

On May 23rd Abbott Laboratories, manufacturers of the anti-retroviral drugs Norvir and Kaletra, became the first pharmaceutical company to intentionally attempt to cause the demise of an HIV/AIDS community group by filing a lawsuit in French criminal court against ACT UP-Paris. Abbott claims ACT UP-Paris’ April website “zap” shut down its server for a few hours prior to its annual shareholders meeting.

French law forbids the limiting of access to a website, unless a defendant has a “legitimate motive”. Holding Abbott accountable for unethical business conduct and highlighting Abbott’s denial of essential medicines can surely be interpreted as a legitimate and honorable motive.

A Paris judge has scheduled an Oct. 26 hearing in criminal court. If ACT UP Paris loses the criminal case, French law proscribes a maximum fine of €75,000, or $100,000 and/or the disbanding of the AIDS organization. Either option will result in the closure of ACT UP-Paris.

HIV patients, doctors and their organizations have scorned Abbott for many years as a result of excessive prices charged for its HIV drugs and for the 400% price increase of its monopoly boosting drug, Norvir, in the United States. The company is now divesting from HIV research and remains only interested in maximizing returns from its existing HIV products.

In recent months, the company has been embroiled in a standoff over access to its drug Kaletra in Thailand. ACT UP-Paris was among the many AIDS activist groups globally that joined an International Day of Action on April 26, 2007, to protest against the company’s withdrawal of applications for new life-saving drugs in Thailand.

Earlier this year, Thailand stated that it could not afford Abbott’s price for Kaletra. The Thai government announced that it planned to use compulsory license provisions, pursuant to international trade law, that allows countries to procure cheaper generic versions of a patented drug in health emergencies. By utilizing compulsory license provisions, the Thai government would save millions of dollars that could be used for life-saving medications for its citizens.

Abbott countered by announcing that it would not register any newly developed drugs in Thailand, depriving that country of the new form of Kaletra that, in contrast to the current form, does not require refrigeration, an obvious issue in tropical Thailand. Despite the fact that the compulsory licenses for Kaletra were legally issued by the Thai government in accordance with WTO TRIPS provisions, Abbott announced that it would refuse access of its new heat-stable version of Kaletra to the 220.000 HIV patients in Thailand.

The World Health Organization, doctors and community organizations globally have called upon Abbott to reexamine its position. The French and British governments publicly supported the Thai government’s right to issue the compulsory drug licenses. People living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand have pleaded with Abbott to reverse its decision and called upon the international community to show solidarity with their cause. ACT UP-Paris responded to their call with the alleged criminal “action”.

Phone and fax zaps or sit-ins, which have disrupted corporate communication for short periods of time, or blocked employee work access, are not new to AIDS activism. These tactics have been used by many other activists throughout the many years of the long epidemic to draw attention to government or corporate acts and omissions.

Such community “actions” in the past have been responded to by government and industry by initiating direct meetings to discuss options and solutions to very real problems and concerns. This has lead to regularly meeting with the community, who represent, and in many instances who are the actual consumers of the products generated by industry and government. This process has led to practices that are mutually beneficial to all stakeholders – expedited and ethical drug development and research, resulting in greater profits for industry and the dramatic extension of life and quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS.

We believe Abbott’s aggressive legal moves are disproportionate and misguided. We call on Abbott to immediately withdraw its lawsuit, to meet with ACT UP-Paris and agree to change its current hostile policies and practices. If Abbott continues to bully ACT UP-Paris and patients internationally, AIDS organizations will have no choice but to continue to engage in such “actions” and to inform all stakeholders of the unethical practices implemented by Abbott Laboratories.

The undersigned organizations stand firm in their solidarity with the Thai HIV community and ACT UP-Paris. We welcome this opportunity to debate Abbott’s shameful policies in Thailand and elsewhere. Regardless of Abbott’s decision on the case against ACT UP-Paris, we will not be intimidated and we will continue to do everything in our power to convince the company to reverse its unprecedented decisions to stifle freedom of speech and deprive the Thai people of life-saving medications.

EATG, TNP+ and ACT UP Paris would like to take this opportunity to thank your organisation for your support during this time, and for signing on to the EATG-initiated petition demanding that Abbott drop the lawsuit.

Dear friends,

As we are sure you’ve all heard by now, Abbott have withdrawn their case against ACT UP, Paris. This was announced after representatives from ACT UP meet with Abbott representatives at the IAS conference in Sydney at the request of the IAS. Thai activists also participated in the meeting, but Abbott resisted all attempts to discuss the Aluvia blockade, sticking instead to the lawsuit against ACT UP-Paris and the international netstrike of April 26.

EATG, TNP+ and ACT UP Paris would like to take this opportunity to thank your organisation for your support during this time, and for signing on to the EATG-initiated petition demanding that Abbott drop the lawsuit. At the end of Abbott’s meeting with activists in Sydney, Abbott confirmed off the record that the broad-based show of solidarity has been central in convincing them to drop the lawsuit.

Unfortunately, although the global AIDS fight movement has scored a significant victory in forcing Abbott to drop the French court case, the larger issue remains. Abbott is upholding its decision to suspend the marketing of seven new drugs in Thailand, including preventing Thailand from procuring the lifesaving second-line HIV drug Aluvia.

We ask you to continue your much needed support, by signing the TNP+ petition below:

http://www.petitiononline.com/bcottabb/petition.html

which aims to put pressure on Abbott to register Aluvia and all other essential medicines in Thailand and in all countries immediately.

Thanks again,

TNP+, EATG and ACT UP Paris

Signed by:

Actions Traitements, France

African HIV Policy Network, UK

AIDES, France

AID FOR AIDS International, USA

AIDS ACCESS Foundation, Thailand

AIDS Action Baltimore, USA

AIDS Cell Ibn Sina Academy, India

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, USA

AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition (ATAC), USA

American Medical Student Association (AMSA), USA

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Aids & Haft, Germany

Arcigay Il Cassero, Italy

Aseer Foundation Multan, Pakistan

Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+)

Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), Malaysia

Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN), Thailand

Bahamas National Network for Positive Living (BNNPLUS), Bahamas

Body Positive, New Zealand

Body Positive Waikato, New Zealand

Canadian Treatment Action Council (CTAC), Canada

Community of People Living with HIV, Russian Federation

Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM-Asia), Malaysia

Central Hospital of Rasulovski region, Tadjikistan

CNCD -11.11.11, Belgium

Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), USA

DC Fights Back, USA

Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+), India

END AIDS NOW!, USA, Great Britain, Denmark, France

European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG), Belgium

European Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (ENP+), The Netherlands

Foenix PLUS, Russia

Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR), USA

FrontAIDS, Russian Federation

Fundação Portuguesa "A Comunidade Contra a Sida", Portugal

GAYa NUSANTARA, Indonesia

Georgian Harm Reduction Network, Georgia

Georgian Plus Group, Georgia

Ghana AIDS Treatment Access Group (GATAG), Ghana

Global AIDS Alliance, USA

Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+), The Netherlands

Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS - North America (GNP+NA)

GRAIN, Spain

Grupo de Trabajo sobre Tratamientos del VIH (gTt), Spain

Grupo Português de Activistas sobre Tratamentos de VIH/SIDA (GAT), Portugal

Health GAP (Global Access Project), USA

HIV Scotland, UK

Humanitarian Action Fund, Russia

Human Resources Trust, Zambia

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), Hungary

International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW)

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)

International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC)

Israel AIDS Task Force, Israel

Japanese Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (JaNP+), Japan

Kovcheg-ANTI-SPID Rostov, Russia

Lega Italiana per la Lotta contro l'Aids (LILA), Italy

LIGO NGO, Life Is Going On, Estonia

Malaysian Treatment Access & Advocacy Group (MTAAG+), Malaysia

McGill Global AIDS Coalition, Canada

Mitr Trust, India

Movement for Behavioral Change and Development Agency (MBDA), Zambia

Musaada, Kyrgyzstan

National Association of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Nepal (NAP+N), Nepal

National MSM & HIV, Policy Advocacy and Human Rights Task Force, India

Network of Maharashtra by people living with HIV (NMP+), India

Network of Zimbabwean Positive Women (NZPW+), Zimbabwe

New York Buyers' Club (NYBC), USA

Passerelle SIDA, Burkina Faso

Pan African Treatment Access Movement (PATAM)

PITA Foundation, Indonesia

Ponimanie, Russia

Positive-Generation, Cameroun

Positive View, Georgia

Project Inform, USA

Raks Thai Foundation, Thailand

Russian Harm Reduction Network, Russia

Sakbol, Kyrgyzstan

Sakhalin Regional AntiAIDS Center. Russia

South-East European Network of PLWH (SEEN)

SERES, Portugal

SIDACTION, France

Solidarité Enfants Sida, France

Student Global AIDS Campaign, USA

Syndicat National des Entreprises Gaies (SNEG), France

Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (TNP+), Thailand

The Centre, Zimbabwe

The 7 Sisters, Thailand

Treatment Action Group (TAG), USA

TRT-5, France

UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and AIDS (UKC), UK

Universities Allied for Essential Medicine (UAEM), USA, Canada, UK

Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk for Justice and Peace, USA

Virtus, Ukraine

Young Activists Against AIDS (YA3), Ghana

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk "ANTIAIDS", Russia