HIV Digest	HIV Digest Archive

GlaxoSmithKline has joined a growing number of groups filing suit against Abbott Laboratories over its decision to raise the price of the AIDS drug Norvir five-fold.

Last month, four major pharmacy chains and one pharmaceutical wholesaler filed a lawsuit against Abbott, saying it abused its monopoly in the U.S. market for AIDS drugs with the hike. Two AIDS patients and the Service Employees International Union Health and Welfare Fund are also suing the drug maker.

Norvir, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1996, is a protease inhibitor that is used in small doses to boost the effectiveness of other AIDS drugs; side effects prevent it from being used as a stand-alone therapy. In 2000, Abbott introduced Kaletra, a drug that includes Norvir.

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he decision to quintuple the price of Norvir in 2003 made Kaletra a cheaper option for U.S. AIDS patients, since it raised the cost of regimens pairing Norvir with rivals' drugs by thousands of dollars a year. Norvir's wholesale price in the United States rose from $51.30 to $257.10 for 30 100-milligram capsules.

In its complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, Glaxo alleges that Abbott "schemed to remove one of the critical components" of AIDS drug cocktails on the U.S. market by raising Norvir's price by 400 percent. Glaxo said the move undercut its drug Lexiva, which is used in combination with Norvir.

Abbott spokesperson Melissa Brotz said Glaxo's "frivolous lawsuit is completely without merit."

from the Wall Street Journal