Abbott Labs Proxy Vote on HIV/AIDS Drug Resolution
Seen By Religious Investors as "Big Step Forward"
First-Year Support Urging Review of Economic Impact of AIDS Gets 8 Percent;
Abbot Shareholder Vote is First of 4 at Major U.S. Pharmas Making AIDS Drugs.
ABBOTT PARK, IL and NEW YORK, NY///April 23, 2004 ///Religious and other concerned shareholders announced that a preliminary total of eight percent of votes cast at Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) today supported a first-year proxy resolution calling for a report on the economic impact the AIDS pandemic will have on the pharmaceutical company and its shareholders.
A first-year support level of 3 percent is required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for this proxy resolution to be reintroduced at Abbott Labs in 2005.
Filed by Society of Jesus - Maryland Province, a member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), and co-filed by the Amalgamated Bank and others affiliated with ICCR, the resolution called on Abbott Labs to "review the economic effects of the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria pandemics on the company's business strategy, and its initiatives to date, and report to shareholders within six months following the 2004 annual meeting." The vote at Abbott Labs is one in a series of four such shareholder resolution votes at major pharmaceutical companies, a group that also includes Merck (NYSE:MRK), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE).
Sister Doris Gormley, representing several provinces of the Society of Jesus, said: "We are gratified to see that so many Abbott Labs shareholders agree with us on how Abbott Labs should respond to the global pandemic of HIV and AIDS, especially in Africa. The investor-owners of Abbott need to feel confident that the board of directors has fully considered the risks and opportunities they face in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in emerging markets, and have implemented effective policies for dealing with the challenges. The AIDS pandemic is an extraordinary event that requires extraordinary response. As shareholders we expect - even demand - profits, but not at the cost of human life."
Abbott Laboratories also faced ICCR-backed shareholder resolutions on access and affordability of prescription drugs and the use of shareholder resources for partisan political purposes. Those resolutions received vote totals of six percent and eight percent, respectively.
Even though HIV medicines can turn AIDS from a death sentence into a chronic disease, only 4 percent of the estimated 40 million world citizens suffering from HIV/AIDS have access to the life-saving medicines. Of that total, 95 percent of the victims live in the developing world where major pharmaceutical companies have been faulted for not doing enough to make HIV/AIDS medications more readily available to the millions who need them.
The filers of the Abbott resolution are: Amalgamated Bank of New York; ASC Investment Group; Dominican Srs. of Great Bend, KS; Dominican Srs. of Springfield Illinois; Christian Brothers Investment Services; Grand Rapids Dominicans; Maryknoll Sisters; Pax World Balanced Fund; Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary; Society of Jesus - Detroit Province; Society of Jesus - Canada Province; Society of Jesus - Chicago Province; Society of Jesus - New Orleans Province; Society of Jesus - Maryland Province; Society of Jesus - Missouri Province; Society of Jesus - Wisconsin Province; Society of Jesus - Oregon Province; Society of Jesus - New York Province; and Trinity Health.
ABOUT THE GROUPS
The Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus is one of ten Jesuit provinces across the USA and in Upper Canada who have taken the AIDS pandemic as their #1 priority advocacy initiative. The AIDS population most at risk is the poor, especially women and children. The Society of Jesus worldwide has been called by the international Jesuit Community "to advocate for change in unjust corporate decisions and values which hinder the reconciliation of the world to God".
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility is an association of 275 faith-based institutional investors, including national denominations, religious communities, pension funds, endowments, hospital corporations, economic development funds and publishing companies. ICCR and its members press companies to be socially and environmentally responsible. Each year ICCR-member religious institutional investors sponsor over 100 shareholder resolutions on major social and environmental issues. The combined portfolio value of ICCR's member organizations is estimated to be $110 billion.
CONTACT: Stephanie Kendall, for ICCR, (703) 276-3254 or skendall@hastingsgroup.com.