Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - October 30, 2007
John Carreyrou, john.carreyrou@wsj.com
Abbott has already been sued by two AIDS patients and the Service Employees International Union Health and Welfare Fund. That suit, in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., has class-action status and is scheduled to go to trial in June.
In the complaint filed yesterday, Safeway Inc., Walgreen Co., Kroger Co., Supervalu Inc.'s New Albertson's Inc. and American Sales Co. allege that Abbott "unlawfully extended its monopoly position as the sole provider of Norvir," an AIDS drug used in so-called cocktails with drugs made by other companies, by raising its price 400% in December 2003. Norvir's U.S. wholesale price rose to $257.10 from $51.30 for 30 100-milligram capsules.
Norvir, which received Food and Drug Administration approval in 1996, is in a class of drugs known as protease inhibitors. Side effects prevented it from being used as a stand-alone drug, but it became widely used in small doses to boost the effectiveness of other protease inhibitors. In 2000, Abbott introduced Kaletra, a pill that includes Norvir.
Abbott's decision to quintuple Norvir's price in the U.S. made Kaletra a cheaper option for American AIDS patients, as it raised the cost of regimens pairing Norvir with rivals' drugs by several thousand dollars a year.
Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel said the suit is without merit.
In January, The Wall Street Journal reported that Abbott discussed two alternatives to a Norvir price increase. One was to sell Norvir only as a liquid, which one Abbott executive said tasted like vomit. That would have discouraged use of Norvir with competitors' drugs, Abbott executives reasoned. Another was to stop selling Norvir altogether. Abbott says it never seriously considered those scenarios. It also says competitors' drugs have since gained market share.
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Avery Johnson contributed to this story.
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