[Ip-health] GlaxoSmithKline withdraws AIDS drug patent plan in Thailand, India

[Sheila.SHETTLE@geneva.msf.org]

Thursday, 17th August 2006 13:50

GlaxoSmithKline withdraws AIDS drug patent plan in Thailand, India

BANGKOK (AFX) - British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline has dropped its
controversial application to patent a key AIDS drug in Thailand and India,
the company and international HIV campaigners said.

Glaxo, which introduced the drug Combid to Thailand four years ago, told
AFP that it had informed the Thai government of its intention to withdraw
the patent applications for Combid in Thailand earlier this month.

'We already informed Thai officials of our decision to withdraw the
application,' a Glaxo spokeswoman in Bangkok said.

A letter was submitted to the Department of Intellectual Property a day
after local and international AIDS campaigners and some 500 HIV patients
staged a protest in front of the Glaxo office in Bangkok on August 7.

'The letter passed through its legal advisor in Thailand, it did not
explain the reason why Glaxo withdrew its application,' Kannikar
Kijtiwatchakul of Doctors without Borders told AFP.

'But in fact, Glaxo knows it is not qualified to patent the drug which is
not newly invented.'

The drug combines existing medications into a single pill, making it easier
for patients to comply with their treatment programs.

But according to the AIDS Access Foundation, the medication does not merit
a patent because combining existing drugs does not constitute a new
invention.

Thailand's Government Pharmaceutical Organization has produced and
distributed its own generic version at one-fifth the price for years.

Of the 600,000 Thais with HIV, about 80,000 are receiving treatment. Some
18,000 new cases were reported last year.

Thailand's treatment program has been widely credited with slashing the
number of deaths from AIDS by about 75 percent last year.

A World Bank report Wednesday called Thailand's program 'a useful beacon
for other developing countries' seeking to provide treatment to people with
HIV.

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at Toronto AIDS Conference:  +1.416.455.7916
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Sheila Shettle
Communications Officer
M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
Rue de Lausanne 78
1211 Geneva
Switzerland
+ 41.22.849.8403
sheila.shettle@geneva.msf.org
www.accessmed-msf.org