Brazil bypasses patent on U.S. AIDS drug

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070504/ap_on_he_me/brazil_aids_drug ^

[zendari]

BRASILIA, Brazil - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took steps Friday to let Brazil buy an inexpensive generic version of an AIDS drug made by Merck & Co. despite the U.S. drug company's patent.

Silva issued a "compulsory license" that would bypass Merck's patent on the AIDS drug efavirenz, a day after the Brazilian government rejected Merck's offer to sell the drug at a 30 percent discount, or $1.10 per pill, down from $1.57.

The country was seeking to purchase the drug at 65 cents a pill, the same price Thailand pays.

It was the first time Brazil has bypassed a patent, but Silva said Brazil would consider doing so again on any drug sold at unfair prices. "Between our business and our health, we are going to take care of our health," he said after signing the decree.

Amy Rose, a spokeswoman for Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck, said earlier that the company would be "profoundly disappointed if Brazil goes ahead with a compulsory license."

"As the world's 12th largest economy, Brazil has a greater capacity to pay for HIV medicines than countries that are poorer or harder hit by the disease," Merck said in a statement after Silva's announcement.

A compulsory license is a legal mechanism that allows a country to manufacture or buy generic versions of patented drugs while paying the patent holder only a small royalty.

[zendari]

What a bunch of thugs. If they won't respect US intellectual property, we need to establish trade sanctions against them.

[CarrotAndStick]

India reforms drug patent laws

India is the world's largest producer of generic drugs

India's lower house of parliament has approved a bill to reform the country's patent laws, to bring them closer to international standards.

More that 85% of the currently available drugs are going out of patent or are out of patent, therefore India has much go gain from the generic drug industry

Dr Anand Kumar
Astra Zeneca Foundation (India)

The new Patents Second Amendment bill allows the government to license patented drugs to domestic firms in case of public health emergencies when supplies are low or prices too high.

But the bitter pill for India's pharmaceutical industry, which is the biggest generic drug producer in the world, will come if the next part of the bill goes through parliament.

It includes new laws giving full patent protection to drugs, conforming with World Trade Organisation (WTO) obligations to observe international laws from 2005.

Generic headache

Currently, India recognises patents protecting the way a drug is made but not the drug itself, allowing local firms to copy drugs patented in the West as long as they use a different process.

"The minister said the pharma industry needs to come out of its reverse engineering mode and move forward into the research and development mode," Dr Anand Kumar of the Astra Zeneca Foundation in India told the BBC's World Business Report.

"He also said that India is emerging as the new leader for the knowledge based drug industry and that we should protect our interests," he said.

Many global pharmaceutical firms have been holding back investments in India due to the lack of strong patent laws.

Earnings high

Generics are the drug makers main source of revenue because of the cheap labour and research costs and strong exports.

"More that 85% of the currently available drugs are going out of patent or are out of patent, therefore India has much to gain from the generic drug industry," said Dr Kumar.

Analysts expected the strong earnings to continue despite the new laws.

Indian companies have been targeting the lucrative US generic market, where drugs with combined annual sales of about $47bn lose their patent by 2005.

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[Grut]

Well, there isn't any US patent system for Americans who can't afford to spend ten to twenty thousand dollars for a patent application, So I guess it's only fair that there shouldn't be one for those who can.

[NonValueAdded]

There's Thailand again ... they're everywhere, they're everywhere!

I suppose they could still pony up the 65 cents per, just to keep it fair.

[EEDUDE]

“If they won’t respect US intellectual property, we need to establish trade sanctions against them.”

Kinda like we do with China?

[zendari]

If an idea is not worth $20k, why is it worth patenting?

[exinnj]

10% of Brazil’s military budget would pay for the drug for all AIDS patients in Brazil.

[babygene]

“What a bunch of thugs. If they won’t respect US intellectual property, we need to establish trade sanctions against them.”

You need to read about compulsory licenses. Their legal and we have them in the United States too.

Do a Google search on +”compulsory license” +wiki...

[JimRed]

The country was seeking to purchase the drug at 65 cents a pill, the same price Thailand pays.

Why the big discount to Thailand? Did they permit unrestricted trials of the drug during the development period?

[Son House]

Only conservatives are held to the rule of law.

[rogue yam]

Ping

[Smedley]

Well, there isn't any US patent system for Americans who can't afford to spend ten to twenty thousand dollars for a patent application, So I guess it's only fair that there shouldn't be one for those who can.

FYI, that price juist went up due to the Supreme Court's recent KSR decision.