[Ip-health] BioMed Analysis: Pooling patents for HIV drugs

[Judit Rius Sanjuan]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Interesting article on the UNITAID patent pool for HIV-AIDS medicines.

"An alternative, proposed by the advocacy group Knowledge Ecology
International, among others, is to create a multi-million dollar prize
fund to tempt companies into joining the pool. Those who join the pool
become eligible for prizes, which could, for instance, be allocated to
companies that have the biggest effect on public health.

The idea is gathering support from several leading academics, such as
Mary Moran, head of the pharmaceutical research and development
project at the George Institute in Sydney, Australia, as well as
donors such as the Clinton HIV/AIDS initiative.

Some developing countries also support the idea. Bangladesh, Barbados,
Bolivia, and Suriname have written to the WHO (who host and administer
UNITAID) asking it to consider the prize fund/patent pool model. They
suggest that ten per cent of donor drug purchase budgets go towards
this fund, which could run to millions. No doubt, donors and
nongovernmental organisations will dispute the exact percentage, or
even the mechanism for financing the fund, but they and governments
need come up with a workable plan before the momentum slips away."



BioMed Analysis: Pooling patents for HIV drugs
Priya Shetty
28 September 2009
Source: http://www.scidev.net/en/opinions/biomed-analysis-pooling-patents-f=
or-hiv-drugs.htm

A UNITAID patent pool could revolutionise HIV treatment and research
in developing countries =97 if payment can be agreed, says Priya Shetty.

When GlaxoSmithKline set up a patent pool earlier this year to
stimulate research into neglected diseases, it was little surprise
that they excluded patents for their extremely lucrativeHIV drugs.

But there is a strong humanitarian case =97 now promoted by the health
organisation UNITAID =97 for pooling HIV drug patents. A UK
parliamentary group on AIDS estimatesthat by 2030, 50 million people
will need HIV drugs. Already, over six million people with HIV/AIDS
are dying because they have no access to lifesaving medicine.

UNITAID's proposed patent pool could change all that. It would work by
collecting patents held by companies, universities or research
institutes and making them available to the developing world for drug
production or research at the cost of an affordable licence fee or
royalty.

This differs from the way drug patents usually work. When a company
creates a new drug, the patent protection lasts about 20 years. It
prohibits other companies from producing and selling the drug or using
it for research. Occasionally, the patent-holder may give other
organisations access to its protected knowledge, but usually only in
an extremely restricted capacity and at high cost =97 which puts low and
middle income countries out of the running.

Patents ensure maximum profits and allow companies to recoup the
millions of dollars they spend getting a drug to market. But they also
mean that people who can only afford cheap 'generic' copies of drugs
must wait decades. And researchers cannot develop new combination
treatments =97 recommended by the WHO as the best way to reduce the risk
of drug resistance =97 if one of the drugs is under patent.

The UNITAID HIV patent pool would mean generics could be made
immediately, and research could begin into new drug combinations and
child-friendly formulations.

Right idea, right time?

Patent pools aren't the only way of ensuring the developing world has
access to drugs. Some countries, like Brazil, India and Thailand, have
issued compulsory licences to allow manufacturers to produce generic
versions of patented drugs. These nations are as aggressive in
protecting their right to make cheap life-saving medicines as
pharmaceutical companies are in protecting their share prices.

But compulsory licensing is a difficult path, fraught with
complications including legal actions from pharmaceutical companies.
And while it makes existing drugs affordable, it doesn't stimulate
research. UNITAID's patent pool could revitalise innovation, saving
lives in the developing world.

And there's good reason to believe that the organisation can make a
pool work. UNITAID has a track record in lowering the cost of HIV/AIDS
drugs through bulk purchase agreements. It also has the expertise of
Ellen t'Hoen, a key ex-member of the Access to Medicines campaign
M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res uses to improve poor people's access to
antiretrovirals.

Some pharmaceutical companies are also, at least in principle, coming
round to the idea. Johnson and Johnson, Gilead, and Indian generics-
maker Cipla have been openly supportive, and Novartis and Merck are
reportedly in talks with UNITAID. Even GlaxoSmithKline, in a recent
letter to the UK's Guardian newspaper, say they haven't ruled out
joining the patent pool.

Payments and prizes

But UNITAID still needs to come up with an incentive for the companies
to join =97 they are unlikely to do so from corporate goodwill alone.

Current proposals focus on royalty payments for voluntary patent
contributions.These royalties would "not be insignificant", t'Hoen
told SciDev.Net. But given the enormous profits that HIV drugs can
bring =97 Tenofovir costs =A33,500 (US$5,500) in developed countries per
patient every year =97 companies are unlikely to settle for royalties
alone.

An alternative, proposed by the advocacy group Knowledge Ecology
International, among others, is to create a multi-million dollar prize
fund to tempt companies into joining the pool. Those who join the pool
become eligible for prizes, which could, for instance, be allocated to
companies that have the biggest effect on public health.

The idea is gathering support from several leading academics, such as
Mary Moran, head of the pharmaceutical research and development
project at the George Institute in Sydney, Australia, as well as
donors such as the Clinton HIV/AIDS initiative.

Some developing countries also support the idea. Bangladesh, Barbados,
Bolivia, and Suriname have written to the WHO (who host and administer
UNITAID) asking it to consider the prize fund/patent pool model. They
suggest that ten per cent of donor drug purchase budgets go towards
this fund, which could run to millions. No doubt, donors and
nongovernmental organisations will dispute the exact percentage, or
even the mechanism for financing the fund, but they and governments
need come up with a workable plan before the momentum slips away.

UNITAID's proposal for a patent pool comes as the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) is revitalised under new leadership. The
new head, Francis Gurry, is trying to revive the organisation's
development agenda, and t'Hoen said WIPO has offered UNITAID technical
support.

UNITAID now need to make sure they successfully broker what could be a
hugely important deal for the developing world.

Journalist Priya Shetty specialises in developing world issues
including health, climate change and human rights. She has worked as a
news editor at New Scientist, assistant editor at The Lancet, and
commissioning editor at SciDev.Net.

Judit Rius Sanjuan
Attorney
Knowledge Ecology International / Essential Information
www.keionline.org / www.cptech.org
Phone: +1.202 332 2670, ext 18