Thai AIDS patients suffer as drug squabble drags on

Each morning, Somying waits on the canal near her Bangkok slum for the iceboat that has become her lifeline.

"It's expensive but I need ice every day," the 33-year-old said of the 12 baht ($0.37) purchase that keeps her lifesaving
AIDS drug, Kaletra, from perishing in hot season temperatures nearing 40 degrees centigrade (104 F)

A version that does not need refrigeration is available in the United States and some African countries hard hit by AIDS, but not in Thailand where the army-backed government is embroiled in a patent dispute with its maker, U.S. pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories.
Abbott will not register the new version, Aluvia, until Bangkok renounces its January decision to invoke a compulsory license under world trade rules which allow governments to make or buy copycat versions of drugs for public health measures.

Thailand, which has taken similar action on another AIDS drug and a heart disease medicine in what it says is a bid to widen access for its poor, wants Abbott to cut its prices more.

The company is sticking to its last offer of $1,000 per patient a year, down from $2,200, but higher than generic versions available for $695.

"The new pills would make it easier," said Somying, whose monthly ice bill eats up nearly half the 800 baht she earns at home tying ribbons for a garland maker.

"I wouldn't have to buy ice or carry around the cooler anymore," she said outside the two-room shack she shares with her two children, including a 13-year-old son with AIDS.

Still, they are among the lucky ones.