[Ip-health] Bangkok Post: Ministry urged not to patent AZT+3TC

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.aegis.org/news/bp/2006/BP060202.html

Ministry urged not to patent anti-Aids drug

Bangkok Post - February 7, 2006
Apinya Wipatayotin

HIV/Aids patients yesterday urged the Public Health Ministry to
intervene in the Intellectual Property Department's plan to grant a
patent on a giant American pharmaceutical company's widely-used
anti-Aids drug.

The patent would end patients' right to access a cheap anti-retroviral
drug, said Nimit Tienudom, director of Aids Access Foundation, who
submitted a petition to Public Health Minister Phinij Jarusombat.

"If the drug is patented, the ministry will have to pay around 400
million baht more to procure the same drug for 4,000 people living with
HIV/Aids," he said.

The US-based GlaxoSmithKline submitted a request to patent Combid, a
combination of 3TC and AZT anti-Aids drugs, in October 1997.

But the patent has still not been granted partly because of strong
opposition from Aids advocates who fear a patent would gravely affect
Aids sufferers in the country.

Patent opponents also argue that Combid is not qualified to be patented
because it is not an "innovation".

They say the company only added a new substance in an existing formula.
The British government refused to patent the drug on the same grounds.

However, the Intellectual Property Department recently agreed to
continue the patent process despite strong opposition from Aids patients
and activists.

"It is likely the department will grant the patent next week. If we
can't stop it, we will file a complaint in court as a last resort to
defend the public interest," said Mr Nimit.

He said if GlaxoSmithKline successfully patented Combid, the Government
Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) would no longer be allowed to
manufacture its cheaper version of the drug, GPO-VIR, which uses the
same formula as the Combid.

The GPO-made anti-Aids drug costs 1,500 baht per course, while Combid
costs upto 8,340 baht per course.

Mr Phinij said he was concerned about the issue because a patent could
cause a huge adverse impact on Aids patients.

The minister allayed some fears, however, saying that the Commerce
Ministry's Intellectual Property Department had told him that a Combid
patent decision would not be made soon.

"This gives the two ministries more time to look into the pros and cons
of the patent," said Mr Phinij.

As well, he said, the ministry also plans a new campaign focusing on
HIV/Aids prevention and control, including a safe sex campaign for
teenagers on Valentine's Day.

Mr Phinij said the rate of teenagers using condoms was quite low due to
their belief that having sex with a friend was safe sex.

Such misinformation was likely behind the jump in teenagers infected
with HIV/Aids from 10,000 in 2003 to about 13,000 last year, he said.




--
Mike Palmedo
Research and Web
Consumer Project on Technology
T =96 202-332-2670
F =96 202-332-2673
mpalmedo@cptech.org