US Eases Drug-Patent Rules
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Wall Street Journal (23.12.02)
Michael M. Phillips
The Bush administration scrambled to undo the public relations damage
caused when it blocked an international agreement to allow developing
countries easier access to generic versions of prescription drugs to
combat AIDS, malaria, cholera and other infectious diseases. Just
hours after World Trade Organization talks in Geneva broke down late
Friday, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick announced that the
United States would temporarily allow nations to override American
drug company patents and export inexpensive, generic versions of
brand-name pharmaceuticals to help African and other very poor na-
tions.
US trade officials had been working on the backup plan during the
last week of negotiations, as it became apparent that Washington
might soon find itself in the position of being the sole obstacle to
an agreement seen by many as a humanitarian imperative.
WTO members agreed in November 2001 that poor countries should, under
international rules, be able to produce their own generics to deal
with public health emergencies, without permission from the companies
that hold the patents. Many poor nations, however, argued they did
not have the industrial capacity to produce quality drugs, and asked
that they be allowed to import generics. WTO members pledged to re-
solve that issue by the end of this year.
The talks collapsed, however, over the issue of which diseases would
be eligible for patent exemptions. Major developing nations, such as
Brazil and India, said drugs for a vast array of diseases, including
cancer, heart disease and asthma, should be covered by the exemp-
tions. The United States, pressed by the pharmaceutical industry,
wanted to limit the list to infectious diseases such as AIDS and tu-
berculosis.
Pharmaceutical companies warned that broader exemptions would cut
profits to such a degree that they would reduce their research into
new drugs.
The US plan - essentially a unilateral implementation of the American
negotiating position - will be in place until an agreement is
reached, said Zoellick. WTO members agreed to reconvene next year and
try to reach a deal by Feb. 11.
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