Dear Positive Talk,
This press release from Retrovirus follows a public letter dated
2/4/04
to Jeffery Devlin, Marketing Director at Abbott Laboratories, issued
jointly by AFC, TPAN, CDPH and CORE Center.

Test Positive Aware Network responds to Abbott regarding Norvir Price
Increase


In light of the broad opposition in the HIV/AIDS community to
Abbott's decision to increase the price of Norvir, in late January a
group of stakeholders from Chicago met with an Abbott representative
to voice our opposition to the price increase for Norvir and to
strongly urge them to rescind it.
During that meeting we also urged Abbott to hold similar discussions
with other important stakeholders across the country, especially the
AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition (ATAC).

We in Chicago fear the adjusted cost of Norvir will:

o Adversely affect access to current and future salvage therapies
that require Norvir as a boosting agent;

o Adversely affect future pricing negotiations for the AIDS Drug
Assistance Program (ADAP), which would put treatment further out-of-
reach for an increasingly larger group of people;

o Influence the pricing patterns of other manufacturers of HIV/AIDS
medications;

o Contribute to the rising cost of private health insurance that
increasingly forces employers to eliminate or reduce benefits and/or
pass larger portions of the cost onto employees;

o Adversely affect some Medicare beneficiaries with HIV who, despite
the recently adopted program expansion, may be unable to afford the
high costs associated with receiving the new prescription-drug
benefit;

o and finally, severely tarnish Abbott's image, domestically and
internationally,in the area of social responsibility.

We continue to be unconvinced by Abbott's rationale for the price
increase and, in fact, believe the company's posture on the issue has
only compounded public outrage. Specifically, the argument that the
increase was needed to generate capital for future AIDS-related drug
discovery has been met with strong skepticism in the AIDS community.

Responding to some of the issues raised by Chicago and other
advocates nationwide, Abbott announced last week plans to permanently
make soft-gel Norvir available, to permanently freeze the cost of
Norvir for ADAPs (AIDS Drug Assistance Programs) nationwide; to offer
free Norvir via the only Patient Assistance Program without income
requirement; and to freeze the cost of Norvir at $1.71 per 100 mg
tablet for use in clinical development with new chemical entries.
While these concessions are laudable, this action does not address
the key concern on pricing and appears unlikely to mute mounting
criticism.

The negative public response to Abbott's recent decision is
overshadowing their distinguished record of accomplishments fighting
HIV/AIDS. We recognize and applaud Abbott's leadership role in
bringing antiviral agents and diagnostic tools to market, and the
company's generous philanthropy to AIDS charities, including our own
organizations. Despite this, some of our board members and other
supporters have expressed to us their anger and disappointment
with our continued association with Abbott. At a time when ADAP
waiting lists near 1000 individuals, and scores more face uncertain
futures, reaction to Abbott's announcement amplified growing anger
about our nation's fractured and unequal healthcare system. Community
sentiment toward the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly negative
as the industry enjoys record-setting profits, and the cost of
prescription drugs skyrockets.

The anger is much broader than the AIDS community as evidenced by the
public support for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's efforts to
import prescription drugs from Canada and the decision of Illinois
Attorney General Lisa Madigan to launch an investigation into Abbott
Laboratories' 400% price increase on Norvir.

Madigan's announcement is part of her larger effort to address
skyrocketing drug prices. However, she said Abbott's decision to
increase the cost of Norvir stands out as an example of unfair
pricing that may violate the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive
Business Practices Act.

In closing, we support Abbott's decision to expand eligibility to its
Norvir Patient Assistance Program and other recent concessions on
this issue.
While the program helps respond to concerns of individuals who may
experience a short-term crisis obtaining Norvir, nothing short of a
rollback in the price will address the community concerns about the
symbolic and systemic impact this will have on future pricing
decisions for AIDS-related medications.


Charles E. Clifton
Executive Director