E-DRUG: Is Pfizer Seeking a Trade Agreement to Raise the Price of the Medicines Donated to Programs in Developing Countries?
--------------------------------------------------
http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/blog01292009
Mike Palmedo
January 29, 2009
Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler and Stanford Professor John Barton have written
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, proposing a new
international framework on drug pricing. They had been asked by the
Chairman to try to find a way to "protect our patents abroad but also
demonstrate flexibility and compassion with respect to public health
crises in the developing world." Kindler and Barton's letter to Baucus
provides a rough outline of a framework to try to meet this goal. Under
their plan, developed nations would generally accept higher prices, the
poorest countries would be more-or-less exempt from strict enforcement
of IP, and middle-income countries would segment their markets. They
are convening a closed, off-the-record meeting in DC with invited
stakeholders to further develop it in February.
Although there are few details, Kindler and Barton's rough proposal may
raise some concerns. Last week, I posted a blog about possible risks to
US state Medicaid programs that negotiate discounted pharmaceutical
prices for low-income Americans.
I would now like to point out a part of the proposal that seems to call
for developed countries to pay higher prices for the medicines they buy
for use in developing countries. The letter states:
"Developed-world nations would commit themselves to develop detailed
mechanisms to ensure that their government pharmaceutical purchasing
authorities pay an adequate price to encourage research and also that AS
DONORS, THEY PAY A PRICE ADEQUATE TO COVER AN APPROPRIATE SHARE OF
RESEARCH COSTS FOR THEIR PURCHASES OF NEW PRODUCTS OF PRIMARY VALUE TO
DEVELOPING NATIONS." [Emphasis added]
This could be interpreted in various ways, but it seems to imply that
programs like PEPFAR, UNITAID, and the Global Fund ought to pay higher
prices for medicines.
-------------------------------------
Pfizer/Stanford letter to Sen. Baucus:
http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/pfizer08132008
-------------------------------------
--
Mike Palmedo
Research Coordinator
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
American University, Washington College of Law
4910 Massachutsetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20016
T - 202-274-4442 | F 202-274-0659
mpalmedo@wcl.american.edu