[Ip-health] Reuters: Brazil to object to Dutch seizure of generic drug

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2327254420090123

Brazil to object to Dutch seizure of generic drug

Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:40am EST

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Brazil said it would file a
complaint at the World Trade Organization over the seizure by Dutch
authorities of a shipment of a generic high blood pressure drug made
in India.

Local foreign and health ministries said a company claiming to have
intellectual property rights to the arterial hypertension drug
losartan in the Netherlands requested customs authorities seize a
shipment of a generic version of the drug in transit from India to
Brazil, two countries where the patent is not protected.

The Brazilian government can withhold intellectual property rights for
a drug if it considers it "in the public interest." Its health-care
system provides free drug treatment for certain conditions such as
AIDS and high blood pressure.

"The Brazilian government feels that the decision by the Dutch
authorities to detain the basic material critical for the public
health of a developing country ... a serious step backward on the
question of universal access to drugs," said the note released by the
Brazilian ministries late Thursday.

The statement also said the government would take its complaint to the
executive council of the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

High blood pressure is one of the leading causes of death among
Brazilians.

The cargo of generic losartan that was seized in Rotterdam was sent
back to India, where it was manufactured by Dr. Reddy's, the
ministries' note said. The drug was being imported by Brazil's EMS.

Losartan is the generic name for the drug Cozaar that was co-developed
by Merck & Co and DuPont Co.

(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; writing by Reese Ewing)

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997