Abbott slashes price of Kaletra in 40 developing nations

The multinational pharmaceutical corporation Abbott Laboratories announced a significant cut in the cost of its life-saving drug Kaletra (a protease inhibitor to treat hiv/aids) in 40 developing countries including India.

Abbott claims the new price is lower than that offered by any generic manufacturer of the drug, and is 55 per cent less than the average current price of Kaletra in the 40 countries. The move follows a recent agreement of Abbott with who. The agreement commits the pharma major to increase access to Kaletra, while preserving incentives that encourage development of new drugs.

Various ngos, however, remain sceptical of Abbott's intentions, in the wake of the fact that in March 2007 it pulled back seven new drugs, including Kaletra, from the Thai market, after the government instituted a compulsory drug licence, allowing generic versions of the drug into the market.