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Heat-resistant AIDS drug on way

    JOHANNESBURG

    US drug giant Abbott Laboratories on Tuesday filed for South African registration of a heat-resistant tablet version of its anti-AIDS drug, Kaletra.

    Abbott's move comes about a month after protests over the company withholding the drug from developing countries, where refrigerated liquid versions were still being used.

    The new version of Kaletra - a key second-line treatment for HIV-positive people who develop resistance to, or side effects from, first-line treatments - received approval in the US in October 2005, but was not shipped to developing countries.

    "We are trying to do everything we can to investigate registrations in other developing countries," Abbott spokeswoman Melissa Brotz said in a statement, adding that South African approval would only come in the third quarter of 2007.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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