[Ip-health] MSF Supports Opposition to Gilead's tenofovir Patent Application in India

[Sheila.SHETTLE@geneva.msf.org]

MSF Supports Opposition to Gilead's tenofovir Patent Application in India=
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  Patenting tenofovir Would Set Dangerous Precedent for Global Access to=0D
                           Newer Essential Drugs=0D
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New Delhi/ Geneva, 10 May 2006 =E2=80=93 The medical humanitarian organizat=
ion=0D
M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res (MSF) is today expressing its support fo=
r Indian=0D
civil society groups in their battle against a patent application by Gilead=
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Sciences for the key AIDS drug tenofovir.  People living with HIV/AIDS in=
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India opposed the patent application yesterday on the grounds that the drug=
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consists of a previously known compound, and should not be considered an=0D
invention according to India=E2=80=99s Patent Act.=0D
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If Gilead were granted this patent, generic production of tenofovir in=0D
India, where a generic version has been marketed since 2005, could be=0D
prevented until 2018, and any existing production would be in jeopardy.  In=
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addition, future generic production of fixed-dose combination pills=0D
containing tenofovir would also be blocked.  Such combination drugs have=0D
had a major impact in helping scale up global AIDS treatment by simplifying=
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it.=0D
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=E2=80=9CGranting this patent would set a dangerous precedent.  Limiting pr=
oduction=0D
of tenofovir and that of other newer essential drugs to a single company=0D
keeps prices high because generic competition is blocked,=E2=80=9D said Ell=
en =E2=80=98t=0D
Hoen, Director for Policy and Advocacy at MSF=E2=80=99s Campaign for Access=
 to=0D
Essential Medicines.=0D
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Access to tenofovir in resource-poor settings is extremely limited.  While=
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Gilead, the patent-holder in most developed countries, has announced that=
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it will offer the drug at a discount to 97 developing countries, the=0D
company has been extremely slow in making the drug available in these=0D
countries.=0D
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In MSF=E2=80=99s HIV treatment project in Khayelitsha, South Africa, where =
nearly=0D
4,000 patients receive antiretroviral drugs, the difficulty in accessing=0D
tenofovir has resulted in only 40 patients with only the most urgent needs=
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receiving the drug.=0D
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=E2=80=9CWe need tenofovir for more and more of our patients, but the suppl=
y from=0D
Gilead has simply been too unreliable, so we can=E2=80=99t put more patient=
s on=0D
it,=E2=80=9D said Dr. Eric Goemaere of MSF in South Africa. =E2=80=9CWe hav=
e all been=0D
waiting impatiently to get tenofovir as a generic from India. Our project=
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is a microcosm for what is to come elsewhere, and it is clear the world=0D
desperately needs more sources of this essential drug,=E2=80=9D he added.=
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Tenofovir (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate =E2=80=93TDF) is commonly prescrib=
ed as=0D
part of first-line antiretroviral treatment in the US and Europe. It is=0D
increasingly needed in resource-poor settings, both for patients starting=
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treatment for the first time, because it leads to fewer side effects than=
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other commonly used drugs, and for those patients who have been on therapy=
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for several years. The latest World Health Organization (WHO)=0D
antiretroviral treatment guidelines recognize the importance of tenofovir=
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for resource-limited settings, recommending its use in first and=0D
second-line regimens. But at the same time as tenofovir=E2=80=99s importanc=
e is=0D
being underlined, access to it may be severely restricted.=0D
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The Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS, represented by the=0D
Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore registered their opposition to the patent=
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at the Delhi patent office yesterday.  The public interest lawyers are=0D
arguing that forming a salt (fumaric acid) out of an existing compound=0D
(tenofovir disoproxil), is a common practice within the pharmaceutical=0D
industry, and should not be considered patentable under Indian law.=0D
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=E2=80=9CFor many of us living with HIV/AIDS, newer drugs like tenofovir of=
fer new=0D
hope of continuing treatment. With patents interfering with our lives we=0D
have no choice but to oppose them,=E2=80=9D said Loon Gangte, from the Delh=
i=0D
Network of Positive People, speaking at a press conference in Delhi.=0D
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Under the 2005 Indian Patents Act, anyone can submit comments in opposition=
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of a patent before the patent office decides to grant or reject it. Cancer=
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patients and generic drug manufacturers recently opposed a Novartis patent=
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application for Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), an anti-cancer drug, on the=0D
grounds that the application claimed a new form of an old drug. The patent=
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was subsequently rejected by the patent office.=0D
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MSF has been providing antiretroviral treatment to people living with=0D
HIV/AIDS since 2000. Over 60,000 patients currently receive ARVs through=0D
MSF worldwide.=0D
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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
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