[Ip-health] Pfizer wins Indian patent on AIDS drug

[James Love]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aJn6y.EZYwQE

Pfizer India Surges on Winning Patent for AIDS Drug (Update2)


By Archana Chaudhary

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Ltd., the Indian unit of the world's
biggest drugmaker, rose the most in more than 11 months on winning a
patent for its AIDS drug in the South Asian nation, home to 2.5 million
sufferers.

The unit of New York-based Pfizer Inc. is registering maraviroc, a drug
used to treat HIV and AIDS patients, for sale in India, it said in an
e-mailed statement. The company declined to say when the treatment will
be available.

Winning a patent helps Pfizer sell the drug without competition from
low-cost copies made by generic drugmakers. Still, branded treatments
are too expensive for most patients in India who have the virus that
causes AIDS.

``This is significant news for Pfizer and other international drug
companies seeking exclusivity in the Indian market,'' said Aparna
Krishnan, a health-care analyst with Global Insight Inc. in London.
``But we expect the Indian government to negotiate on prices.''

Maraviroc is the first HIV drug to be awarded a patent in India.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the world's second-biggest drugmaker, withdrew
patent application for its AIDS drug Combivir in August last year after
opposition from Indian patient groups.

Pfizer's maraviroc, the generic name for Selzentry, is a second-line
treatment for HIV, meaning it is used by patients who are resistant to
primary drugs. The treatments are typically more expensive than older
drugs used in initial therapies, increasing the economic burden for
governments.

India Patients

An Indian agency last month said it is considering treating as many as
2,000 HIV patients with medicines that fight drug- resistant viruses
starting next year.

Fewer than 150,000 people in India receive HIV-fighting medicines
through clinics, according to Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare
Foundation.

Improved data collection by government agencies in India helped reduce
the number of people carrying the HIV virus by 3 million in the past
year, UNAIDS, which coordinates global AIDS relief efforts through the
United Nations, said on Nov. 20.

Pfizer India rose 55.05 rupees, or 7.7 percent, to close at 772.25
rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The patent is the first for an
overseas drugmaker in India to treat HIV and AIDS, the Business Standard
reported earlier.

Selzentry works against AIDS by blocking a protein on the surface of
cells in the immune system that HIV uses to enter and kill the cells.

To contact the reporter on this story: Archana Chaudhary in Mumbai at
achaudhary2@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: December 11, 2007 06:28 EST