[Ip-health] Op-Ed: Brown/Allen resolution is "criminally naive"

[robert weissman]

http://thehill.com/op-eds/dont-commend-theft-of-aidsdrug-patents-2007-10-18=
.html

The Hill
Don=E2=80=99t commend theft of AIDS=E2=80=88drug patents
By Sally C. Pipes
October 18, 2007

Imagine if Congress sponsored a resolution praising a foreign government
-- which recently seized power in a military coup =E2=80=94 for stealing fr=
om
U.S. companies and deliberately undermining the fight against AIDS.

Amazingly, that=E2=80=99s exactly what=E2=80=99s happening. The military go=
vernment of
Thailand, which came to power in a coup last September, is actively
stealing patented medicine from the very companies that have developed
the leading cures for AIDS.

Now, in a staggering display of cluelessness, Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine)
and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have sponsored a resolution praising the
Thai government for its theft and urging the United States not to
enforce intellectual property standards.

Apparently, Allen and Brown think that Thailand is playing the role of
Robin Hood -- providing medication to AIDS victims by stealing property
rights from the companies that develop cures. Bill Clinton thinks so
too. In May, he expressed his support for Thailand=E2=80=99s decision.

That is criminally na=C3=AFve.

The Thai population is suffering from an AIDS epidemic. The U.N.
estimates that nearly 600,000 Thais are afflicted. But the government is
more interested in using this crisis to steal patents and develop its
own drug business than providing Thai patients with the effective cures.

In fact, the Thai government recently rejected an offer from two U.S.
drug companies, which proposed to sell two of the world=E2=80=99s leading A=
IDS
medications, Kaletra and Efavirenz, at cut-rate prices.

The Thai government also refused to accept an offer for free -- that=E2=80=
=99s
right, free =E2=80=94 generic Efavirenz from The Global Fund.

Instead, the Thai government decided to manufacture its own knockoffs.
It ignored the licenses for these drugs and tasked its own generic
pharmaceutical company, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization
(GPO), to manufacture clones.

Never mind the fact that manufacturing the drugs actually costs more
than buying them through legal channels -- or accepting them for free.
Clearly, this decision was about enriching cronies in the GPO, not
helping Thai AIDS patients.

As justification for its theft, the Thai government pointed to a World
Trade Organization arrangement called TRIPS -- the Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. TRIPS allows some
governments to apply for =E2=80=9Ccompulsory patents=E2=80=9D in the case o=
f health
emergencies.

Of course, there was no emergency here because Thailand already had free
access to the drugs it needed. The government=E2=80=99s actions are particu=
larly
egregious because its official manufacturer, GPO, has repeatedly failed
to comply with the quality and safety standards of the World Health
Organization. In July 2005, it emerged that inferior GPO products have
actually caused drug-resistant cases of AIDS to increase.

But setting aside these safety concerns, Thailand=E2=80=99s actions threate=
n to
upset the economic incentives that allow western firms to produce novel
cures -- like AIDS drugs -- in the first place.

It takes about $800 million and more than a decade of research to bring
a drug from its initial discovery through the FDA approval process and
finally to patients. Without the period of sales exclusivity guaranteed
by a patent, it would be impossible to recoup this investment -- or even
to attract the venture capital needed to fund the initial research.
Without patent protections, the drug industry as we know it would
collapse, and development of new drugs would be significantly curtailed.

By urging our government to let other nations seize licenses to
manufacture American drugs, Brown and Allen would slaughter the goose
that lays the golden eggs of medical innovation. Already, other nations
like Brazil are following suit and have begun stealing cures. If this
trend grows, we can say goodbye to the next AIDS cure. That=E2=80=99s not
something our Congress should commend.

Pipes is president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, which is
partially funded by the pharmaceutical industry, and an adviser on
healthcare to GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.