Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - April 29, 2006
Bruce Japsen, Tribune staff reporter, bjapsen@tribune.com
The pay-for-performance resolution garnered 35 percent of the shareholders' vote, a bit less than last year. Meanwhile, the proposal to split the CEO and chairman duties was supported by 30 percent of shareholders, nearly double the support from last year. And shareholders defeated a proposal that would have made Abbott report more information on political contributions, which garnered only 10 percent support, a slight increase over last year.
Abbott Chairman and Chief Executive Miles White said there was no momentum by him or the board to alter executive pay standards or split his duties among two people. White did, however, say the company by June 30 would begin to post company political contributions made in 2005 on the company's Web site.
In the past the North Chicago-based company has said such information already is publicly available, but White said the company agreed to "put it in one place" so it was easily accessible.
As is typical for Abbott's annual shareholders meeting, it was attended by more than 1,300 shareholders, mostly retirees and longtime Chicago-area stockholders.
Applause erupted several times when White and his board, particularly the compensation committee, were criticized about executive salaries and even payments to board members when Abbott's stock has been down. Abbott shares closed Friday at $42.74, down from the 52-week high of $50 reached last July.
White also faced criticism on two fronts by more than 60 protesters who continue to challenge the company on its pricing for AIDS drug Kaletra, which is available in a newer form in needy countries. Abbott continued to deny it wasn't doing enough, citing a 20-year track record in AIDS care and investments of more than $100 million in developing countries.
The newer tablet form of Kaletra, which is in a class of HIV medicines called protease inhibitors, requires no refrigeration and would be important in areas of AIDS-ravaged Africa where health-care facilities often do not have adequate cooling equipment for medical products.
Abbott is making Kaletra available for $500 per patient per year in nearly 70 of the poorest countries, including all of Africa. In the U.S. Kaletra costs more than $7,500 a year per patient.
Protesters said White should make it easier for generic companies to copy Kaletra and should manufacture and provide it even cheaper.
Several AIDS groups protested at Abbott headquarters after the shareholders' meeting and downtown at Tribune Tower, headquarters of Tribune Co., the publisher of the Chicago Tribune. White is a board member of Tribune Co.
"Generic competition will lower prices," Sara Renn, a national coordinator for the Student Global Aids Campaign, said in an interview Friday after the protests.
White said Abbott has not stood in the way of any generic companies' attempts to make Kaletra cheaper and has no patent protection filed in these needy countries. He believes generic companies have shied away because they would not be able to provide it any cheaper than Abbott.
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