Botox maker AbbVie suspends operations in Russia

The Russians will have to deal without Botox, an injectable drug that softens wrinkles, as long as President Vladimir Putin continues his country’s attack on Ukraine.

Botox maker AbbVie, a global pharmaceutical company, said in a statement on its website that it has temporarily suspended operations on its cosmetic products, including Botox, in Russia as the crisis unfolds in Ukraine. The company does not operate manufacturing plants in the region, according to the company. AbbVie will continue to produce and distribute essential and life-saving medicines to patients in Russia.

“As a global biopharmaceutical company, we have a responsibility to patients who depend on our medications,” said AbbVie, who also reiterated his commitment to providing participants in clinical trials with experimental drugs. “Our priority is to ensure the safety of our colleagues and help patients get the medication they need.”

Amid intense public pressure on Western companies stop its activities in Russia, drug manufacturers must walk the fine line between boycotting the country and continuing to supply ordinary citizens with critical medicines and pharmaceutical devices. Abbott, who has publicly condemned the war, said this week that it was suspending non-essential business in Russia, including new investment, business development and advertising. But the company said it continues to provide life-saving drugs for maintaining cancer and organ function in Russia.

Other pharmaceutical companies, such as Germany’s Bayer, Eli Lilly and Pfizer, have taken similar positions. They suspend non-essential operations in Russia while continuing to supply vital medicines and devices.

Crossing an ethical line

Michele L. Mekel, acting director of the bioethics program at Penn State College, said it is reasonable for a company to discontinue certain operations while continuing with essential activities.

“To the extent that Botox and other cosmetic products do not save lives, related to the correction of disease or the treatment of disease, they are not within the human rights of anyone to obtain,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “While something like insulin is a completely different story; if it saves lives, it’s health care that’s key.”

Retaining life-saving medical treatments would cross an ethical line, he stressed. “If we look at it based on someone’s right to life and health, then suspending something like Botox is obviously inconvenient for some people, but it doesn’t affect life in terms of habitability. But if the decision is made to cut it all off. supply chains for all kinds of medicines and supplies and biomedical drugs, that would be tragic. “

Botox procedures, which can cost thousands of dollars, could be out of reach for many Russians these days, as Western sanctions have damaged the country’s economy.

“We are doing something that is affecting people who are at higher levels of society, things that the oligarch might be using, and it is not saving anyone’s life,” Mekel said.