Pharmaceutical companies are likely to
face increased pressure from the international community to allow other
manufacturers to develop generic versions of antiretroviral (ARV)
drugs, now that the board of UNITAID has voted to launch a patent pool.
UNITAID is an international group devoted to increasing access to
quality treatment of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. According to a UNITAID press release,
the patent pool should help deliver affordable versions of HIV drugs
and facilitate the development of essential new fixed-dose combination
and child-friendly drugs.
A patent pool consists of at least two companies, usually in
competition with each other, agreeing to share or cross-license patents
related to a particular technology. Patent pools allow companies to
work together toward a common goal—scale-up of access to safe and
effective ARVs in resource-poor nations, for example—while at the same
time securing payment for the manufacturing and distribution of their
products.
Pharmaceutical company participation in UNITAID’s patent pool, to be
implemented in early 2010, is voluntary. In exchange for giving up
their monopoly rights to their name-brand ARVs, pharmaceutical
companies will be given a fair royalty payment by generic manufacturers
participating in the UNITAID program. In addition, pharmaceutical
companies would keep their 20-year patent rights in wealthy countries.
“This is a historic moment, which brings hope to the millions who
don’t currently get the HIV medicines they need to stay alive,” said
Mohga Kamal‐Yanni, senior health policy advisor at Oxfam GB. We
congratulate the board for their leadership in taking this step. This
will not undermine any country’s ability to use the existing
intellectual property flexibilities enshrined in national and
international law. The patent pool will save lives by delivering
much-needed drugs to those in need around the world.”
UNITAID said the spotlight is now firmly on the pharmaceutical
companies. “Companies like Gilead and Merck showed real leadership
within the industry by speaking positively of the patent pool,” said
Diarmaid McDonald, coordinator of the United Kingdom–based Student Stop
AIDS Campaign, in an online article published Tuesday, December 15, in The Guardian.
“They must now go beyond words and contribute their patents to the
pool. The pressure will be on others within the industry to follow or
to explain why they are willing to turn their backs on an initiative
with such huge potential to save lives.”
UNITAID, established by Brazil, France, Chile, Norway and the United
Kingdom, “call[s] on all companies with patents relevant to the pool to
contribute them to the new entity as soon as possible.”
