Lawmakers Seek Probe of AIDS Drug Price Rise

U.S. antitrust authorities should investigate the controversial price rise of Abbott Laboratories Inc.’s key HIV/AIDS drug, Norvir, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators urged on Wednesday.

U.S. antitrust authorities should investigate the controversial price rise of Abbott Laboratories Inc.’s key HIV/AIDS drug, Norvir, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators urged on Wednesday. The company’s decision to raise the price of the drug 400 percent is anti-competitive and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission should probe Abbott’s actions, the lawmakers said. “It would be unconscionable if drug manufacturers are taking such unscrupulous actions to maximize their bottom line, at the expense of patients suffering with AIDS,” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said in a statement. Democratic Sens. Ernest Hollings of South Carolina and Charles Schumer of New York, also called for FTC action. The price increase, announced by Abbott in December, sparked an outcry from AIDS activists and physicians and led to recent patient protests at the company’s shareholder meeting. The price of a 100-milligram capsule of Norvir rose to $8.57 from $1.71. The company has said the increase was overdue and was needed to fund future drugs. Activists argue Norvir is being sold at an outrageous price, despite being developed with support from taxpayer funds. “Abbott’s actions not only put the marketplace at risk, but more importantly, impact the medical options that the sickest people need for a hope of survival,” said Hollings, the committee’s ranking Democrat. The FTC should take proper enforcement action after the investigation, the senators said. Abbott spokeswoman Jennifer Smoter said the company’s “repricing action was entirely lawful,” adding the FTC had not yet contacted Abbott. An FTC spokesman said the agency had no comment on the letter. The lawmakers also said the price increase seemed to apply only when the drug was used in combination with its competitors’ products, not with Abbott’s combination pill. Norvir, or ritonavir, is a protease inhibitor used to fight the HIV virus that causes AIDS. It is commonly used as a so- called “booster” to help other AIDS medicines work better. Last month, the National Institutes of Health announced it would hold a public hearing over a request to allow cheaper, generic versions of Norvir. The meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Peter Kaplan and Lisa Richwine) (Source: Reuters Health, May 2004)