[Ip-health] Wall Street Journal Health Blog: WHO Mulls Patent Changes and Prizes for Needed Drugs

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/11/06/who-mulls-patent-changes-and-prizes-=
for-needed-drugs/

  November 6, 2007, 8:42 am
WHO Mulls Patent Changes and Prizes for Needed Drugs
Posted by Avery Johnson

nullCheaper medicines for the developing world are on the agenda this
week at a World Health Organization=92s powwow in Geneva. And the debate
there over patents is likely to give drug makers agida.

It=92s the second meeting of a WHO public health working group that=92s
trying to put together an action plan to present to the World Health
Assembly in May. The main issue on the table is age-old: How to coax
drug makers to spend precious research dollars on diseases that aren=92t
blockbuster material? Some are thinking outside the box, reports the
Financial Times, with suggestions for pooling patents or awarding
prizes to companies that develop drugs for neglected diseases.

Margaret Chan, the WHO=92s director-general, welcomed the delegates with
a delicate dance. Her speech praised innovation (score one for the
drug makers) and highlighted the need for equitable health care (notch
one for public health advocates). Some WHO draft proposals are calling
for the usual fix of compulsory licenses and beefed-up support for
generics makers.

A U.S. NGO called Knowledge Ecology International is pushing for the
more radical approach. One idea is to combine drug makers=92 IP in a
pool and farm out the collective knowledge to third parties for drug
development. Patent holders would still get some rewards, but generics
companies could launch a copycat product sooner and more cheaply.

Permalink | Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/11/06/who-mulls=
-patent-changes-and-prizes-for-needed-drugs/trackback/
Save & Share: Share on Facebook | Del.icio.us | Digg this | Email This
| Print