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Open Letter to Abbott Laboratories

BOSTON, MA April 5, 2006 -- As part of Boston Common's long term engagement with global pharmaceutical companies to make their drugs more accessible to patients in developing countries, Boston Common acted as one of 318 signatories to a letter sent to Abbott Laboratories from Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) urging the company to register its new formulation of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) in developing countries so that the old formulation can be replaced by the new one, as was done in the U.S.

The tablet formulation of LPV/r, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October 2005, has critically important advantages for patients in developing countries: no dietary restrictions, lower pill burden, and most importantly, storage without refrigeration. Due to the storage requirements of the old formulation, there is the risk that some patients in tropical climates are currently using degraded LPV/r capsules.

For more information please contact: Lauren Compere, Director of Shareholder Advocacy, Boston Common Asset Management, (617) 720-5557, lcompere(at)bostoncommonasset.com