Brazil AIDS NGO Opposes Drug Patent in India

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Brazil AIDS group opposes drug patent in India

Hiddleston

Tenofovir is a modification of an already known compound, it says

Patent will prevent import of low-cost generic medicines from India:

Brazil group " We want more options to promote competition and bring

down prices "

CHENNAI: Patients from Brazil have asked the Delhi patent office not

to grant a patent pending on the HIV drug tenofovir because it would

prevent the import of low-cost generic medicines from India they say

are important for their national AIDS treatment programme, upon which

1,80,000 Brazilians depend.

This is the first time that a group from outside the country has

challenged a patent pending in the country since the introduction of

product patents in India in 2005. It shows how far other developing

countries rely on the production of generic medicines and illustrates

the strength of the demand for exports from the Indian pharmaceutical

industry.

ABIA (Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association) filed the

opposition jointly with the Indian non-governmental organisation

SAHARA (Centre for Residential Care and Rehabilitation) on Thursday

to a patent submitted by Gilead Sciences before 2005 and kept in

waiting. The Patent Amendment Act, 2005 (Section 25) allows any

affected party to object to a patent before it is granted. ABIA and

Sahara are appealing on the grounds that the drug is a modification

of an already known compound and therefore not eligible for a patent

under Section 3(d) of India's patent law. Gilead also has a patent

pending for tenofovir before the patent office in Rio de Janeiro,

Brazil.

" We want more options to promote competition in the market and bring

down drug prices, " a Chavez, a pharmacist with ABIA told The

Hindu over telephone from Brazil. " If the patent is granted in Brazil

but not in India, Brazil has the option to apply for a compulsory

licence [a provision for public health emergencies sanctioned by the

World Trade Organisation] to buy the drug at lower cost from Indian

companies. If the patent is not granted in Brazil or India, Brazil

has the option to import either the key ingredients or the finished

medicines from Indian companies, " she said.

Drug resistance

Tenofovir is recommended by the World Health Organisation as a

treatment for those who suffer side effects from other HIV drugs or

those who develop drug resistance. An estimated 31,000 people living

with HIV are expected to receive tenofovir through Brazil's national

AIDS programme by the end of 2008, said a Chavez. The

Brazilian government is buying the drug direct from Gilead at the

negotiated price of $1,387 (Rs. 59,571) per patient a year, according

to its 2007 budget figures.

The lowest priced generic versions of the drug are available in the

Indian domestic market at $158 (Rs. 6,770). Some Indian

pharmaceutical companies in 2006 signed an agreement with Gilead

enabling them to manufacture the drug but preventing them from

exporting it or its raw materials to some middle income countries

including Brazil.

If the patent is not granted in India, companies can compete for the

domestic market but only those who have not signed the agreement with

Gilead will be able to export

http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/27/stories/2008062761291700.htm