[Ip-health] Brazil declares Tenofovir of public interest

[peter maybarduk]

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Here are two more news articles on that subject.  -peter
----

1.) Reuters

<http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1034936120080410?
pageNumber=3D1&virtualBrandChannel=3D0>

UPDATE 1-Brazil may reject Gilead's AIDS drug patent
Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:55pm EDT

(Adds data on Tenofovir use in Brazil, background)

By Maria Pia Palermo

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 10 (Reuters) - Brazil has decreed U.S.
pharmaceutical firm Gilead's (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) AIDS
drug Tenofovir "in the public interest", signaling it may reject a
patent request due to its high price and import a generic version.

The Health Ministry said in a decree published on Wednesday that
patenting the drug in Brazil would generate "expectations of monopoly
rights with an impact on the price of the product."

Latin America's largest country has an internationally-lauded AIDS
prevention and treatment program, in which patients get free
antiretroviral treatment.

The ministry said it had requested a priority examination of the
patent filing by the company with the Brazilian INPI patent body,
which will have to take into account the ministry's objections.

"If no patent is issued, Brazil will be free to negotiate prices of
the drug, be it generic or brand name," a health ministry source told
Reuters on Thursday, adding that the case was "not about compulsory
licensing" or breaking patents.

A representative of Gilead Sciences Inc in Brazil declined to comment
on the issue but said high-ranking Gilead officials were in contact
with the ministry to discuss the case.

The Health Ministry said Tenofovir accounts for 10 percent of the
money the government spends on its AIDS treatment program, which
encompasses a cocktail of various drugs, including Tenofovir in some
cases.

It said that this year, 31,300 Brazilians would be treated with
Tenofovir at a cost of $1,387 per patient. The annual cost per
patient, for some 180,000 people treated under Brazil's AIDS program,
is about $2,500 worth of medicines a year.

The Health Ministry source said the case was different from last
year's bypassing of a patent on Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N: Quote,
Profile, Research) AIDS drug Efavirenz.

Last May, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva authorized Brazil to
sidestep the patent on Efavirenz and import a generic version from
India. It was the first time Brazil bypassed a patent to acquire
cheaper drugs for its AIDS program.

That process also started with the government declaring the drug "in
the public interest" and saying it was too expensive.

If the Tenofovir patent is rejected, Brazil may choose to import
generic drug using a clause in World Trade Organization rules to
flout drug patents in the name of public health.

Other countries, including Canada, Italy and Thailand, have also used
the WTO clause to gain access to cheaper AIDS drugs.

The World Health Organization considers Brazil's AIDS strategy --
which also includes large-scale distribution of free condoms as well
as free and fast testing for the HIV virus -- a model for developing
nations.

Brazil's AIDS infection rate, after climbing until the early 1990s,
has steadied and even reversed course. The prevalence of the HIV
virus dropped to 0.5 percent in 2006 from 0.6 percent in 2005, its
first fall in seven years. The numbers of new AIDS cases and AIDS
deaths have also been declining. Brazil has an estimated 600,000
people infected with HIV/AIDS. (Additional reporting by Pedro Fonseca
and Andrei Khalip) (Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)


2.) Prensa Latina

<http://www.prensalatina.com.mx/Article.asp?ID=3D%7B5B71C474-CB20-4219-
A9F1-69F05F8E8C02%7D&language=3DES>

Declaran medicamento contra el SIDA de inter=E9s p=FAblico en Brasil

Brasilia, 10 abr (PL) El anti-retroviral Tenofovir, utilizado en el
tratamiento del SIDA/HIV, es a partir de hoy considerado de inter=E9s
p=FAblico en Brasil.

La decisi=F3n fue adoptada por el ministro de Salud, Jos=E9 Gomes
Temporao, y con ello se abre un proceso para abaratar su costo.

Temporao argument=F3 adem=E1s que estudios del laboratorio local
Farmanguinhos demostraron que no hay inventiva en el original y eso
hace innecesario patentarlo.

Se espera que el Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial (INPI)
rechace el pedido de patente del remedio presentado por la firma
Gileal Science Incorporation.

La no aprobaci=F3n de esa patente permitir=EDa al Ministerio de Salud
comprar el medicamento en otros laboratorios que no sean el Gilead.

Esa cartera gasta mil 300 d=F3lares al a=F1o en cada uno de los 31 mil
300 pacientes con SIDA en fase inicial que recurren al anti-
retroviral Tenofovir.

Si se pudiera comprar el gen=E9rico fabricado en laboratorios de la
India los gastos se reducir=EDan a 170 d=F3lares anuales por paciente,
seg=FAn el c=E1lculo gubernamental.


On Apr 10, 2008, at 11:27 AM, Judit Rius Sanjuan wrote:

>
> TDF was also opposed on similar grounds by the Indian Network for