[Ip-health] BBC: "Drug firms 'must pool patents'

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8150457.stm

  Drug firms 'must pool patents'

Drug firms must allow the generic production of their HIV medication
if the deaths of millions of people are to be avoided, British MPs warn.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Aids wants to see a patent pool
in which firms would give up their rights in exchange for a royalty fee.

They describe a "treatment timebomb" in which the number of people
with HIV will increase fivefold by 2030.

Growing resistance to basic drugs mean millions need more expensive
ones.

"We are sitting on a treatment timebomb," said David Borrow, chair of
the group of MPs who wrote the report.

"We must reduce the price of second-line medicines and less toxic
first-line medicines before millions need them. We cannot sleepwalk
into a situation where we can only afford to treat a tiny proportion
of those infected."

Governments around the world, including the UK, have signed up to the
goal of 'Universal Access to HIV treatment, prevention, care and
support' by 2010.

But the report warns that the world is not on track to meet this
target, noting that only a third of the 9m people who need it have
access to HIV treatment.

Good will

The majority of people who are being treated in the developing world
are treated with a combination of cheaper drugs which can have serious
side effects. Because of this they are barely used in the West.

Three years ago, the World Health Organisation recommended a shift
away from these medications to less toxic ones based on either
Zidovudine or Tenofovir.

But these remain significantly pricier than the older ones: currently
the Tenofovir-based combination is more than twice as expensive as the
traditional combination.

This is despite the fact, the report notes, that a voluntary license
scheme for this drug has allowed eleven different generic
manufacturers - all in India - to produce it.

A much broader form of licensing is being proposed by Unitaid, the UN
body on drugs for killer diseases.

This would involve drug firms voluntarily putting their patents into a
single pool in return for a royalty. Manufacturers or researchers who
wish to use the relevant patents are then able to do so for a fee.

International Development Minister, Mike Foster, said: "The simple
fact is that the HIV epidemic continues to outstrip our best efforts.
Five people are infected with HIV every minute and for every two
people put on treatment, there are 5 people newly infected with HIV.

"The pharmaceutical industry has an opportunity to act now to help
prevent future human catastrophe. It is time for them to state their
clear commitment to make new HIV medicines affordable to those who
need them most, by working with Unitaid to develop a patent pool"

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is cited by the report as saying it did not at
present see the point of putting its HIV patents in a pool.

"For HIV, we believe that extensive research is already underway, and
thus it is not a neglected disease. Millions of dollars are ploughed
into research into HIV every year by the pharmaceutical industry.

"To improve access, we already have an extensive voluntary licensing
programme for HIV across Sub Saharan Africa, involving eight
licensees. These licensees are free to develop FDCs [Fixed-Dose
Combination retovirals] and paediatric versions and we believe this is
a much simpler approach than the creation of a patent pool."

Gilead, which makes Tenofovir, has said it is interested in the idea.

"We believe if structured appropriately, Unitaid's patent pool can
play a critical role in expanding access to antiretroviral treatment
for patients around the world by encouraging the development of new
fixed-dose combinations and pediatric formulations, lowering prices,
while respecting intellectual property," said the company's senior
vice president Gregg Alton.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8150457.stm

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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