March 24, 2004

The Honorable Tommy Thompson
Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington D.C. 20201

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We write to add our voices and support to the over 120 organizations and physicians and six members of the House of Representatives that have requested you to open competition on the federally funded ritonavir patents. We believe this action, authorized under the Bayh-Dole Act when a federally funded invention is not made available to the public on "reasonable terms," is a fitting remedy to Abbott's 400% increase in the price of ritonavir in the U.S. only two days before Christmas 2003. It is not reasonable to charge U.S. consumers over $7,800 for a U.S. government funded product that can be bought in Canada for less than $720.

We further support the requests of the petitioners for a public hearing in which all interested parties may submit relevant evidence.

Signed,


Lynda Dee, Co-Chair
AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition
Drug Development Committee
111 N. Charles Street, Suite 500
Baltimore, MD 21201
410.332.1170

Organizations

National Minority AIDS Council
Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative
National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA-US)
HIV/AIDS Law Project, Volunteer Lawyer’s Program, Phoenix
Hispanics United of Buffalo, NY
Grey Panthers
Families USA
American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees
Prescription Access Litigation Project (PAL)
National Health Law Program
New Jersey Appleseed
Vermont Public Interest Research Group
Women's Health Institute, MA
United Senior Action of Indiana
Maine People's Alliance
Joint Public Affairs Committee (JPAC) for Older Adults, NY
Mississippi Human Services Coalition
Boston Women’s Health Book Collective
The Center for AIDS: Hope & Remembrance Project, Houston
Human Resource Development Institute, Chicago
New Phoenix Assistance Center, Chicago
Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, San Francisco
AIDS Cell, Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences, India
CitiWide Harm Reduction, NY
The River Fund, FL
New Mexico POZ Coalition
AIDS Treatment Access, Cuba
Hepatitis C Action & Advocacy Coalition, San Francisco
AIDS Education Global Information System, CA
George Rural Urban Summit, GA
HIV/Hepatitis C in Prison Committee, CA
ACT-UP/ Atlanta
All About YOU – Being Your Best, IL
HIVCare Services, St. Francis Memorial Hospital, San Francisco
Santa Cruz AIDS Project, CA
AIDS Affect U$ All, CA
AIDS/HIV Health Alternatives FOUND
Jelani Unified Men’s Project, IL
Tennessee AIDS Support Services, Inc.
West Alabama AIDS Outreach, Inc.
ACT UP/Cleveland
East Bay AIDS Center, CA
HIV Law Project, Inc., NY
Betances Health Center
Triad Health Project, NC
Lee County Health Department, IL
Desert AIDS Project
Harm Reduction Project, UT
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts
East Bay AIDS Center
AIDS Project Greater Danbury, CT
Salt Lake Community Action Program, UT
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, NY
Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, NJ
AIDS Services for the Monadnock Region, NH
Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services, NY
Dayspring AIDS Support Services, ME
Special Audiences, Inc., NJ
AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland
Pierce County AIDS Foundation, WA
Hands United Together, CA
South Mississippi AIDS Task Force, Inc.
The Chicago Area HIV AIDS Caucus (EASE)
The Northside HIV & Health Coalition, IL
Chicago Women’s AIDS Project
AIDS Services of Dallas
ACT UP East By, CA
Southwest C.A.R.E. Center
Hemophilia Association of New York
AIDS Housing Association of Tacoma
New York AIDS Coalition
AIDS Project Los Angeles
CARES, Sacramento
Madison County AIDS Program (MadCAP)
AIDS Healthcare Foundation, CA
Redwood AIDS Information Network and Services (RAINS), CA
New Jersey Women and AIDS Network

Individuals


Will O’Bryan
Kris Davis, ARNP
Martha A. Powers, LICSW
Donald Finch
Kelly A. Scott
Harold Davis
George Felix Sirls
Joey Myers
Jeffrey Grabelle
Scott Wilfong
Syed Ziaur Rahman, M.D.
Ronnie Gillis
Sister Mary Elizabeth, OSM
Raul Gonzalez, CSW
Dennis Lee
Allison Truckenbrod, MPAS, PA-C
Terry Grand, M.D.
Michael Gottlieb, M.D.
Raymond Foxgord, M.D.
Alan Sheiner, M.D.
Nathan Ruben, M.D.
Ryan J. Borgen
Merrill Cole, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Burak, M.D.
Josiah D. Rich, M.D., M.P.H.
Arthur Reilly, M.A.
Diane C. Clark
Axel Torres Marrero
Jennifer N. Fernandez, Ph.D.
Dontae Crawley
Karen Bates
Trevor Hawkins, M.D.
Debrah S. Wright, MSW
Jesse Chao
Rebecca Petrie
John Schneider, M.D., M.P.H.
Matthew Franck
Our Voices, NJ
Micheal Macken, M.D.
Carlos T Mock, M.D.
Kevin B. Johnson
Abdallah Karam, M.D.
Rob Griffith
Sister Marian Durkin, CSA