[Pharm-policy] PHARMACEUTICAL GIANTS RAIL AGAINST DOMINICAN COPYCAT DRUG PRODUCERS

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Thanks to RS for posting this on HealthGAP.

Thiru

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PHARMACEUTICAL GIANTS RAIL AGAINST DOMINICAN COPYCAT DRUG PRODUCERS  
[excerpts]
By Susannah A. Nesmith, Associated Press

..  SANTO DOMINGO -- Responding to pressure from the United States, the
government adopted a law in May that eliminated a provision requiring
foreign companies to post a cash bond of up to $500,000 before they
could sue Dominican firms for alleged patent violations.  Lawyers
contend that rule made it too expensive for foreigners to pursue cases. 
     Opponents say the new patent law still does not go far enough, and
the United States is threatening to withhold preferential trade
arrangements if it does not prove to be in compliance with World Trade
Organization agreements.
     The law has angered foreign patent holders by requiring them to
grant licenses to local companies that apply to produce drugs and other
goods not made locally.
     Local drug companies already control 50 percent of the market in
this country of 8 million people.  Seven of the top 10 pharmaceutical
operations here are domestically owned, and nearly 120 Dominican
companies in all produce medicine.
     Critics say that's because the Dominican government has not
protected patents.
     Foreign companies also are upset because Dominican drug firms have
begun exporting to Central America in recent years.  Executives at one
of the top Dominican companies, Rowe Laboratories, say half of its $5
million in annual sales are to Central America.
     Critics say the law's "obligatory license" clause amounts to
legalizing piracy.  According to the clause, a foreign patent holder
that doesn't manufacture its product here is virtually obliged to grant
a license to a local company in exchange for reasonable royalties.  .. 
The government buys locally produced medicines to supply 400 subsidized
pharmacies in poor neighborhoods around the country, spending more than
$9 million a year on drugs, according to a recent study by the Pan
American 
Health Organization.
..  Government officials say they plan to tighten control by instituting
effectiveness tests after a drug is put on the market.  At the moment,
the national laboratory tests drugs only if a problem is reported.  
     Local producers insist their drugs are safe even if they haven't
gone through the extensive testing required in countries like the U.S.
[snip...] 

[Printed with one 4-3/16"x 5-3/4" b/w PHOTO attributed to AP photos by
John Riley: Juana Felix gives medicine to 4-month-old Yandro Rodriguez,
being held by his mother, Rafaela Rodriguez, at a clinic in Santo
Domingo.] [Chicago Tribune,www.chicagotribune.com; email:
ctc-TribLetter@Tribune.com, Sept. 17, 
'00, Sect. 5, p. 10.]

infreader2@aol.com (Stephen Hunt) - Chicago