Since refusing to sell new medicines in Thailand, Abbott Labs is struggling to communicate its position. The drugmaker is fuming that the Thai government issued a compulsory license to make its Kaletra AIDS med, alleging the move violated World Trade Organization rules. But its retaliatory step is generating calls for a boycott and negative publicity.

A story in a Thai newspaper underscores the dilemma. A reporter sought comment about the flap and was told by Abbott spokespeople in Bangkok to call Abbott HQ in Chicago. And only a two-sentence statement is provided. Nothing else.

“You have to quote me exactly,” Dirk Van Eeden, an Abbott International pr person, tells The Nation, adding that he couldn’t discuss the dispute or provide any info because of the “particularly sensitive” situation Abbott was in.

The statement: “Thailand has chosen to break patents on numerous medicines, ignoring the patent system. As such, we’ve elected not to introduce new medicines there.”

Meanwhile, there’s still no mention of the controversy or Abbott’s decision on its web site. If Abbott is so convinced that playing hardball is the right approach, why isn’t that message being conveyed loud and clear? Or is Abbott’s management worried its decision could, in part, backfire? Come on, Miles. Time to stand by your strategy.

The story in The Nation;
Abbott’s web site. [tags]Abbott Laboratories, Compulsory Licensing, Patents, Thailand[/tags]