Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - May 28, 2004
Bruce Japsen, Tribune staff reporter
Aetna, the nation's third-largest health insurer, now intends to discuss with "Abbott the basis for its repricing action" of the drug Norvir, the Hartford, Conn.-based firm said in a statement. Aetna officials would not provide further comment.
Abbott said it did not know the reasons behind Aetna's decision to dismiss the suit and said it has no plans to cut a new deal on Norvir pricing with the insurer. The suit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
"We were advised today by Aetna that it was unilaterally dropping without prejudice its lawsuit regarding Norvir," Abbott spokeswoman Jennifer Smoter said. "Abbott maintains its pricing decision was appropriate and lawful. We are standing by our pricing action. We are not changing anything."
Abbott quadrupled the price of Norvir in December, to $8.57 a day from $1.71 for the most common 100-milligram dose, upsetting AIDS activists, consumer groups and physicians who treat the HIV virus.
Abbott still faces similar suits from AIDS and consumer groups and is under investigation for possible antitrust violations by attorneys general in Illinois and Texas. Several members of Congress have asked the Federal Trade Commission to intervene.
Consumer groups argue that the government should have some say in the price of the drug since Abbott accepted some government funding in developing it. Essential Inventions Inc., a non-profit organization, has asked the National Institutes of Health to consider letting other drugmakers market generic versions of the drug before Abbott's patent expires in 2014.
Abbott said the government grant was $3.47 million for early HIV discovery work, and that the company spent more than $300 million to develop Norvir.
Abbott has said the price change was warranted because Norvir was undervalued in the market after new studies showed it works as a booster to other companies' AIDS drugs. Abbott also said it will use proceeds from the price increase to develop new life-saving drugs.
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