[Ip-health] Reuters, AFP, Nation on Thai protest against GSK patent app.

[Sheila.SHETTLE@geneva.msf.org]

Thais protest patent bid for AIDS drug=0D
07 Aug 2006 12:26:48 GMT=0D
Source: Reuters=0D
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By Tanny Chia=0D
BANGKOK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Thais living=0D
with HIV/AIDS rallied against drug maker=0D
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Monday to protest a patent=0D
application they say would raise the cost of a key=0D
life-saving drug.=0D
=0D
Waving placards and shouting slogans outside GSK's=0D
office in Bangkok, the demonstrators demanded the=0D
company withdraw a nine-year-old patent bid for its=0D
anti-retroviral Combid, which is made in a generic=0D
version by Thailand's state drug company.=0D
=0D
The patent would force the Government Pharmaceutical=0D
Organization (GPO) to stop producing its version,=0D
Zilarvir, which costs about 1,500 baht ($40) per=0D
month, activists said.=0D
=0D
Combid sells in Thailand at almost six times the price=0D
of the generic version, and would likely rise further=0D
if there was no competition, said Wirat Purahong,=0D
chairman of the Thai Network of People Living with=0D
HIV/AIDS.=0D
=0D
"This international drug company is being selfish,=0D
greedy and unethical. It doesn't care about the health=0D
and welfare of the people," Wirat told Reuters.=0D
Some 80,000 people with HIV/AIDS are receiving=0D
anti-retroviral drugs under a programme expanded last=0D
year and covered by Thailand's public healthcare plan.=0D
=0D
Granting the patent would drive up drug costs and=0D
threaten the government's ambitious treatment=0D
programme, said Achara Ekasengsri, GPO's deputy chief=0D
of research and development.=0D
=0D
"We disagree with the patent because there is no new=0D
discovery or invention," she said of Combid, which=0D
combines two existing drugs, lamivudine and=0D
zidovudine, and is also known as Combivir.=0D
London-based GSK, which is not dropping its patent=0D
request, said Thailand could negotiate for a voluntary=0D
licence to produce a generic version of the drug.=0D
GSK also offered preferential pricing for=0D
middle-income nations such as Thailand, said GSK=0D
spokeswoman Alice Hunt.=0D
=0D
"If somebody legitimately wants to manufacture and=0D
sell Combivir, all they need to do is pick up a phone=0D
and talk to us about getting a voluntary licence," she=0D
said.=0D
=0D
In 2000, an alliance of HIV/AIDS groups, lawyers,=0D
academics and pharmacists asked the Department of=0D
Intellectual Property to reject GSK's request, arguing=0D
that Combid was not a new entity but just a=0D
combination of two widely-used drugs.=0D
=0D
The challenge was dismissed in 2005 but an appeal is=0D
pending.=0D
=0D
The government has not said when it will make a=0D
decision on the patent request.=0D
Thai activists say they will take their fight to the=0D
International AIDS Conference in Toronto later this=0D
month.=0D
=0D
During the 2004 AIDS conference in Bangkok, protesters=0D
besieged the company's booth and accused GSK of not=0D
doing enough to fight the pandemic in the developing=0D
world.=0D
=0D
The Nation=0D
HIV DRUG FEARS=0D
Hundreds rally at Glaxo office=0D
=0D
UK firm's move for patent on Combid is 'a threat to=0D
access of cheap medicines'=0D
=0D
Some 500 people living with HIV/Aids and activists=0D
yesterday demonstrated outside the Bangkok office of=0D
one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies,=0D
GlaxoSmithKline, to protest against its application=0D
for a patent on a key anti-retroviral treatment.=0D
The protesters said a patent would grant Glaxo a=0D
monopoly on the drug Combid, which forms part of the=0D
standard treatment for people with HIV/Aids in=0D
Thailand. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation=0D
(GPO) currently manufactures an affordable generic=0D
version called Zilarvir.=0D
=0D
"Glaxo is selling its Combid at about Bt8,300 for 60=0D
tablets [a month's prescription] while the GPO drug=0D
sells for only Bt1,500. If Glaxo is granted the=0D
patent, the GPO would no longer be able to produce its=0D
generic version and the Glaxo product's price could=0D
even rise in the absence of any competition," said=0D
Wirat Purahong, chairperson of the Thai Network of=0D
People Living With HIV/Aids.=0D
=0D
Wirat said about 8,000 infected people nationwide=0D
needed the drug, which combined two existing=0D
anti-retroviral drugs, lamivudine and zidovudine. The=0D
protesters claimed Glaxo had no right to apply for a=0D
patent for Combid since its blending of two medicines=0D
did not constitute an invention.=0D
=0D
After the building had been blockaded for two hours, a=0D
representative of Glaxo Thailand met the demonstrators=0D
and accepted an open letter containing the protesters'=0D
demands. The representative, however, told them it was=0D
a policy of the Glaxo headquarters in the United=0D
Kingdom - not its Bangkok office - to apply for patent=0D
protection.=0D
=0D
The protesters said their demonstration was organised=0D
with the support of foreign organisations including=0D
Doctors Without Borders; Positive Malaysian Treatment=0D
Access & Advocacy Group; Intellectual Property Left,=0D
Korea; the US-based Health Global Access Project; and=0D
the Health Right Network of Korea.=0D
=0D
Responding by email to The Nation's inquiries, Glaxo=0D
said it "disputes the claims of =E2=80=A6 NGOs that Glaxo=0D
would seek to reduce access and availability of=0D
anti-retrovirals". It did not elaborate.=0D
In February, protesters met Commerce Permanent=0D
Secretary Karun Kittisataporn, who oversees the=0D
Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), to put=0D
forward their argument that people living with=0D
HIV/Aids would be severely disadvantaged if a patent=0D
was granted to Glaxo.=0D
=0D
The drug firm has already been granted patents for=0D
Combid in the US and Europe. It applied for patent=0D
registration in Thailand in 1998. The application is=0D
being reviewed by a committee set up by Karun. People=0D
living with HIV/Aids and academics earlier appealed to=0D
the committee, saying Combid did not deserve to be=0D
patented.=0D
=0D
Seksan Boonsuwan, director of the DIP's Patent=0D
Division, said in a telephone interview yesterday that=0D
he could not intervene in the committee's=0D
decision-making process, and that the final decision=0D
would be made by the department.=0D
=0D
The protesters' appeal would be considered, he said.=0D
Seksan agreed that if a patent was granted to Glaxo,=0D
not only would people with HIV have to pay more for=0D
the drug, but the GPO could be sued by the giant firm=0D
for patent violation if it continued to produce a=0D
generic version.=0D
=0D
Dr Mongkol Jiwasantikarn, the GPO's director, said if=0D
the patent was granted, the GPO would stop=0D
manufacturing Zilarvir, which now has a total market=0D
value of about Bt300 million annually.=0D
"We are not worried about our income, but about the=0D
health of infected people. I don't know how they will=0D
be able to afford the patented drug," he said.=0D
Today Online, Singapore=0D
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=0D
Thai AIDS patients protest GlaxoSmithKlein over drug=0D
patent=0D
Time is GMT + 8 hours=0D
Posted: 7-Aug-2006 20:00 hrs=0D
AFP=0D
=0D
A Thai woman raises a placard as some 500 Thai=0D
activists demonstrate outside the office of=0D
GlaxoSmithKline in Bangkok. Hundreds of Thais with HIV=0D
have protested outside the Bangkok office of drugmaker=0D
GlaxoSmithKline to demand that the British=0D
pharmaceutical firm drop its effort to patent a key=0D
AIDS drug in Thailand.=0D
=0D
Hundreds of Thais with HIV have protested outside the=0D
Bangkok office of drugmaker GlaxoSmithKlein to demand=0D
that the British pharmaceutical firm drop its effort=0D
to patent a key AIDS drug in Thailand.=0D
.=0D
The company introduced the drug Combid to Thailand=0D
four years ago, but the Government Pharmaceutical=0D
Organization (GPO) produces its own generic version at=0D
one-fifth the price, or about 40 dollars for one=0D
course of treatment.=0D
.=0D
The drug combines existing medications into a single=0D
pill, which makes it easier for patients to comply=0D
with their treatment programs.=0D
.=0D
The activists from the AIDS Access Foundation argue=0D
that the medication does not merit a patent because=0D
combining existing drugs does not constitute a new=0D
invention.=0D
.=0D
They say Britain rejected a patent on similar grounds.=0D
=0D
.=0D
The activists fear that if the patent is granted,=0D
Thailand will no longer be able to produce the generic=0D
version, which would threaten treatment for tens of=0D
thousands of people.=0D
.=0D
"This will have disastrous consequences for the=0D
government's ambitious treatment program." said Achara=0D
Eksaengsri, deputy director for research and=0D
development of the GPO.=0D
.=0D
Of the 600,000 Thais with HIV, about 80,000 are=0D
receiving treatment. Some 18,000 new cases were=0D
reported last year.=0D
.=0D
Thailand's treatment program has been widely credited=0D
with slashing the number of deaths from AIDS by about=0D
75 percent last year. =E2=80=94 AFP=0D
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+++++++++++++++++++++=0D
Sheila Shettle=0D
Communications Officer=0D
M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res=0D
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines=0D
Rue de Lausanne 78=0D
1211 Geneva=0D
Switzerland=0D
+ 41.22.849.8403=0D
sheila.shettle@geneva.msf.org=0D
www.accessmed-msf.org=0D
=0D