[Ip-health] Guardian, UK: Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline pledges cheap medicine for world's poor

[Malini Aisola]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/13/glaxo-smith-kline-cheap-medi=
cine

Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline pledges cheap medicine for world's poor

by Sarah Boseley, health editor

Head of GSK shocks industry with challenge to other 'big pharma'
companies


The world's second biggest pharmaceutical company is to radically shift
its attitude to providing cheap drugs to millions of people in the
developing world.

In a major change of strategy, the new head of GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew
Witty, has told the Guardian he will slash prices on all medicines in
the poorest countries, give back profits to be spent on hospitals and
clinics and =E2=80=93 most ground-breaking of all =E2=80=93 share knowledge=
 about
potential drugs that are currently protected by patents.

Witty says he believes drug companies have an obligation to help the
poor get treatment. He challenges other pharmaceutical giants to follow
his lead.

Pressure on the industry has been growing over the past decade,
triggered by the Aids catastrophe.

Drug companies have been repeatedly criticised for failing to drop their
prices for HIV drugs while millions died in Africa and Asia. Since then,
campaigners have targeted them for defending the patents, which keep
their prices high, while attempting to crush competition from generic
manufacturers, who undercut them dramatically in countries where patents
do not apply.

The reputation of the industry suffered a further damaging blow with the
publication and film of John le Carr=C3=A9's book The Constant Gardener,
which depicted drug companies as uncaring and corrupt.

But speaking to the Guardian, Witty pledged significant changes to the
way the drug giant does business in the developing world.

He said that GSK will:

=E2=80=A2 Cut its prices for all drugs in the 50 least developed countries =
to no
more than 25% of the levels in the UK and US =E2=80=93 and less if possible=
 =E2=80=93
and make drugs more affordable in middle-=C2=ADincome countries such as
Brazil and India.

=E2=80=A2 Put any chemicals or processes over which it has intellectual pro=
perty
rights that are relevant to finding drugs for neglected diseases into a
"patent pool", so they can be explored by other researchers.

=E2=80=A2 Reinvest 20% of any profits it makes in the least developed count=
ries
in hospitals, clinics and staff.

=E2=80=A2 Invite scientists from other companies, NGOs or governments to jo=
in
the hunt for tropical disease treatments at its dedicated institute at
Tres Cantos, Spain.

The extent of the changes Witty is setting in train is likely to stun
drug company critics and other pharmaceutical companies, who risk being
left exposed. Campaigners privately say the move is remarkable, although
they worry that it may undermine the generics industry which currently
supplies the cheapest drugs in poor countries.

Witty accepts that his stance may not win him friends in other drug
companies, but he is inviting them to join him in an attempt to make a
significant difference to the health of people in poor countries.

"We work like crazy to come up with the next great medicine, knowing
that it's likely to get used an awful lot in developed countries, but we
could do something for developing countries. Are we working as hard on
that? I want to be able to say yes we are, and that's what this is all
about =E2=80=93 trying to make sure we are even-handed in terms of our effo=
rts
to find solutions not just for developed but for developing countries,"
he said.

"I think the shareholders understand this and it's my job to make sure I
can explain it. I think we can. I think it's absolutely the kind of
thing large global companies need to be demonstrating, that they've got
a more balanced view of the world than short-term returns."

The move on intellectual property, until now regarded as the sacred cow
of the pharmaceutical industry, will be seen as the most radical of his
proposals. "I think it's the first time anybody's really come out and
said we're prepared to start talking to people about pooling our patents
to try to facilitate innovation in areas where, so far, there hasn't
been much progress," he said. "I can't tell you how many speeches I've
heard about =E2=80=93 oh, you know =E2=80=93 'I wish we could make progress=
 on TB' or
'Why haven't we got treatments for these things?' We all sit there
saying well yes, it's terrible isn't it, instead of actually trying to
do something about it. So =E2=80=A6 what I really hope this does is stimula=
te
people to start engaging with us, and maybe other people to say look,
actually, if you did it this way it could really work.

"Some people might be surprised it's coming from a pharma company.
Obviously people see us as very defensive of intellectual property,
quite rightly, and we will be, but in this area of neglected diseases we
just think this is a place where we can kind of carve out a space and
see whether or not we can stimulate a different behaviour." He is aware
that others in the pharmaceutical industry may accuse him of selling the
family silver. Some people, he said, "are going to hate this". But he
added: "I do think that many CEOs of many companies do worry about this
issue and do have it in their minds and who knows, maybe somebody has to
move before many people move. Equally I could imagine getting a phone
call saying 'What are you doing?'"

Campaigners gave a cautious welcome to GSK's strategy. But Oxfam and
M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res both said the company should go further =
and
include HIV drugs in the patent pool, and warned that generics companies
have always been able to offer lower prices than big pharma, because of
their lower production costs.

"He is breaking the mould in validating the concept of patent pools,"
said Rohit Malpani who runs Oxfam's access to medicines campaign. "That
has been out there as an idea and no company has done anything about it.
It is a big step forward. It is welcome that he is inviting other
companies to take this on and have a race to the top instead of a race
to the bottom."



--
Malini Aisola
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20009
Tel: +1.202.332.2670 Fax: +1.202.332.2673