[Ip-health] Australian Democrats party supports medical innovation prizes

[Benjamin Krohmal]

The Australia Democrats Party has adopted a pharmaceutical prize
mechanism as part of their party platform/action plan.  Kudos to
CAPPE for their efforts to make this happen.

<Millions of poor patients are dying because pharmaceutical companies
insist on vetoing the manufacture of generic drugs
on the grounds that they, with their superior resources, managed to
develop them first.  These problems should be addressed by
international agreement on a public-good
patent scheme funded by rich and poor countries in proportion to
their means.  This would give pharmaceutical innovators the option of
taking out a public-good patent
which would give them no veto powers over others=E2=80=99 use of the
invention, but would instead reward them, out of public funds
contributed by cooperating governments, in
proportion to the health impact of their invention.>

Full text of the relevant sections:

Access to medicines in developing countries
One-third of the world=E2=80=99s population lacks access to essential
medicines; in the poorest
parts of Africa and Asia this figure rises to one-half.  This is
because many drugs are
too expensive or are no longer produced.
Little research is being carried out into the illnesses which are
widespread in developing
countries because drug companies gear their research towards wealthy
markets.
Following recent global agreements and bilateral agreements with the
US, product
patents now give pharmaceutical companies near-global monopolies,
allowing them to
charge prices that often reach 15 times the cost of production.
Developing countries do
not have the means to develop new drugs independently, so are reliant
on drugs
provided at affordable prices.

Pharmaceuticals
Until 2004, Indian law allowed only patents on processes, not on
products. As a result,
India=E2=80=99s thriving generic pharmaceuticals industry cheaply supplied
medicines for poor
patients throughout the world=E2=80=99s poor regions. In 2004, however,
pressure from the rich
nations forced India to pass legislation that blocked the manufacture
and export of
generics. Pharmaceutical company Novartis is taking the Indian
government to court in
order to force changes in the new laws that would make them even more
protective of
the profits of the global pharmaceutical companies.  Millions of poor
patients are dying
because pharmaceutical companies insist on vetoing the manufacture of
generic drugs
on the grounds that they, with their superior resources, managed to
develop them first.
These problems should be addressed by international agreement on a
public-good
patent scheme funded by rich and poor countries in proportion to
their means.  This
would give pharmaceutical innovators the option of taking out a
public-good patent
which would give them no veto powers over others=E2=80=99 use of the
invention, but would
instead reward them, out of public funds contributed by cooperating
governments, in
proportion to the health impact of their invention.

The number of women in their child bearing years is expected to be
1.6 billion by 2015,
with most of these in developing countries where access to
contraceptives is limited.
But funding for reproductive health programs which includes
contraceptive supplies is
going backwards.

Democrats Action Agenda
=E2=99=A3 Impose price-volume caps on all new drugs where any higher volume=
s
than that
agreed are paid for at a lower price;
=E2=99=A3 Establish a new, independent regulator for pharmaceutical
marketing with
responsibility for an improved and legislated code of conduct;
=E2=99=A3 Strengthen sanctions for breaches of the pharmaceutical marketing
code of
conduct;
=E2=99=A3 Increase funding for the National Prescriber Service for more
independent drug
detailers to replace drug reps to visit GPs to inform them about new
drugs on the
market;
=E2=99=A3 Replace the practice of pharmaceutical sampling with trial
prescriptions at reduced
prices;
=E2=99=A3 Ban pharmaceutical promotion in doctors=E2=80=99 prescribing soft=
ware;
=E2=99=A3 Regulate to ensure appropriate separation between funding to
patient support
groups and pharmaceutical companies;
=E2=99=A3 Tender PBS-listed pharmaceutical distribution rights;
=E2=99=A3 Tender government purchase of generics and remove subsidies for
brand name
product once out of patent;
=E2=99=A3 Conduct periodic reviews of the listing and price of drugs and
tighten regulations on
using expensive drugs for conditions where they are not warranted;
=E2=99=A3 Remove tax deductibility for PBS listed pharmaceutical promotion
expenses;
=E2=99=A3 Extend the PBS into public hospitals;
=E2=99=A3 Fund research on complementary medicines;
=E2=99=A3 Extend the PBS safety net to same sex couples and families;
=E2=99=A3 Provide free of charge, nicotine replacement products and quit
therapies;
=E2=99=A3 GST-free status for complementary health medicines, such as
glucosamine
sulphate, that are demonstrably effective;
=E2=99=A3 Software to advise GPs on the evidence for complementary medicine=
s;
=E2=99=A3 Oppose the deregulation of pharmacies;
=E2=99=A3 Support international trade rules such as differential pricing
mechanisms and
public-good patents that protect peoples' access to essential goods
such as life-
saving medicines and so that resource-poor countries can access cheaper
medicines in a transparent and predictable manner;
=E2=99=A3 Advocate for the development of a global framework on essential
health research
and development which overhauls the way medical research and
development is
prioritised and financed so that drugs are rewarded in proportion to
their impact on
the global burden of disease.



Benjamin Krohmal
Coordinator - Project on Medical Innovation
Knowledge Ecology International
Tel: +1-202-332-2670 ex. 17
Fax: +1-202-332-2673
ben.krohmal@keionline.org