Abbott Laboratories

AIDS foundation scolds Abbott

Christe Bruderlin-Nelson — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:40:09 -0400

"Shame on Abbott" said the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which is loudly calling into question the pricing policies of Abbott Laboratories in Mexico.

Abbott, the Foundation claims, is picking on Mexico, charging the country five times what it charges other middle-income countries (the Foundation cites Brazil as an example) for Kaletra, a protease inhibitor used in combination with other drugs to treat infection with HIV. To raise awareness, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation is running ads in Abbott's headquarter state of Illinios. In the ad the foundation proclaims, "Abbott's price gouging in Mexico puts profits ahead of saving lives."

This is not the first time AIDS activists have taken Abbott's decisions on the AIDS medication to task. The company has previously raised controversy regarding a new version of Kaletra in Thailand and pricing issues in Colombia.

The Foundation operates free treatment clinics in Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, and has previously raised concerns about GlaxoSmithKline and Merck. Its first ads against Abbott Labs appeared September 6, 2008 in a regional daily paper in Illinois.

- check out the release
- read the Pharmalot blog post

Abbott, AZ team up on Crestor

Tracy Staton — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:16:30 -0400

The battle of the cholesterol meds could heat up even further now that two Big Pharma companies have forged an alliance. AstraZeneca and Abbott Laboratories are joining forces to market Crestor, AstraZeneca's statin med. With Lipitor scheduled to go generic in a couple of years--and Pfizer pulling out all the stops to capture as much of that brand-name revenue it can in the meantime--competitors are having to fight for their own share of the market.

And with the continued weakness in sales of Vytorin, the Zocor-and-Zetia combo that's seen so much negative publicity this year, now is prime time for another drug to come to the fore. In fact, when the American College of Cardiology advised that docs use other cholesterol meds before resorting to Vytorin, analysts pegged Crestor as one drug that could benefit from the change.

This isn't the first time Abbott and AZ have worked together on a cholesterol drug, or even on Crestor. The two companies have been working on a product that would combine Abbott's TriLipix with Crestor into one combo pill, aiming to file for FDA approval in 2009.

- read the companies' news release

Justice probes biliary stent marketing

Tracy Staton — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:39:02 -0400

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a probe of the bile-duct stent market, trying to determine whether companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson improperly promoted the devices. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts has been subpoenaing stentmakers about their marketing practices, according to SEC filings. The companies have reported that Justice wants to know whether they've promoted the biliary stents for other uses, such as propping open leg arteries.

The U.S. Attorney's office wouldn't comment on the investigation, and the companies themselves wouldn't either, beyond saying that they're cooperating.

- read the Dow Jones story at CNN Money

Abbott faces more AIDS suits

Tracy Staton — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:37:39 -0400

Lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits. Two drugmakers' hometown newspapers offer a rundown on the litigation they face over sales tactics: For AstraZeneca, it's allegations of improperly marketing Seroquel, and for Abbott, more claims over its pricing of the AIDS med Norvir.

Yes, Abbott settled one big Norvir suit last week. But the Chicago Tribune calls that deal "likely its cheapest" it will manage in dispatching the constellation of suits it faces. They all accuse Abbott of hiking the price of Norvir to stifle competition from other drugs and drive patients to its combo drug Kaletra, which also contains Norvir. Inconveniently, some internal communications between execs plotting to "thwart their rivals in the lucrative HIV drug cocktail market" have come out in court documents, the newspaper notes.

As for AstraZeneca and Seroquel, the News-Journal offers a comprehensive look at the marketing allegations filed by three state attorneys general and at the thousands of patient lawsuits over the drug's side effects. With $4 billion in sales, Seroquel is AstraZeneca's second-biggest drug; the company says its success is based on the fact that it's effective in a wide range of mental illnesses. But the state lawsuits allege a variety of marketing infractions, including widespread off-label promotions. AstraZeneca denies the charges; we'll have to wait and see how the courts decide.

- read the story in the Chicago Tribune
- check out the News-Journal article

FDA panel blesses new Enbrel use

Tracy Staton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:36:06 -0400

The safety concerns recently raised about TNF blockers in general and Enbrel in particular weren't enough to keep the Amgen drug down. An FDA advisory panel voted 7-5 in favor of using Enbrel in children with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. As you know, it's already approved for use against rheumatoid arthritis in children and adults, and against psoriasis in adults. It pulled in $3.2 billion in 2007 revenues.

The vote follows an announcement earlier this week that the FDA aims to strengthen the warning labels on Enbrel. The agency wants to flag the risk of death among children and of moderate-to-severe infections in adults. That's because the agency found in its database a series of serious malignancies, infections, and neurological problems in pediatric patients who took Enbrel (a.k.a. etanercept).

Meanwhile, the agency is studying the entire class of drugs--the tumor necrosis factor blockers--for possible links to childhood cancers, especially lymphoma, in kids treated for RA or Crohn's disease. Enbrel is one of those drugs; the others approved in the U.S. are Humira (Abbott Laboratories), Remicade (Johnson & Johnson), and Cimzia (UCB).

- here's re release
- read the Washington Post story
- see the piece at CNN Money

Abbott's patent-tweaking draws fire

Tracy Staton — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:07:08 -0400

To your list of patent-lawsuits-to-watch, add a set of cases over TriCor, the Abbott Laboratories cholesterol med. TriCor is 33 years old, but it's still on patent, thanks to a series of formulation and other tweaks Abbot made along the way. That's no small thing, either: TriCor snared $1.2 billion in 2007 sales.

The thing is, state and federal officials are probing whether all those tweaks--and Abbott's tactics in protecting TriCor from generic poaching--amount to antitrust violations. In one instance, Teva mounted a patent challenge on TriCor, but during the mandated Hatch-Waxman 30-month waiting period, Abbott reformulated the drug into a tablet and repurchased all the capsules. When the 30 months expired, Teva's capsules were no longer bioequivalent. So Teva applied to make tablets. During the 30-month waiting period, Abbott reformulated again.

Teva has since counter-sued, alleging antitrust violations. Now, some 25 state attorneys general have sued, too, siding (in effect) with Teva. The Israeli generics maker's lawsuit is set for trial in November. Count on it to be closely watched, because the outcome may set patent-extending ground rules for the entire industry.

- see the Wall Street Journal article