E-DRUG: Key developing countries at risk of being excluded from UNITAID patent pool
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UNITAID PATENT POOL:
KEY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AT RISK OF BEING EXCLUDED
Geneva, 8 December 2009
The Executive Board of UNITAID, the
international health financing agency, will meet in Geneva on 14-15
December to decide on the future direction of the Patent Pool for AIDS
medicines. International medical humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF) is concerned that a number of pharmaceutical companies
are seeking to exclude developing countries categorised as 'middle-income'
from benefiting from medicines made under licence from the Pool. If they
are successful, people living with HIV-related illness will be made to pay the price.
The Patent Pool has the potential to safeguard access to life-saving
treatment for people living with HIV in the developing world, by lowering
the cost of existing improved first-line and second-line treatments and
accelerating the development and generic production of new and more
affordable quality drugs, including new fixed-dose combination and
child-friendly medicines.
'Countries like South Africa, Brazil, Peru, Thailand, India or China are
considered lucrative emerging markets for pharmaceutical companies. But
they are also countries with significant AIDS epidemics, and face rising
drug costs. If they are excluded this will have drastic consequences for
patients,' said Michelle Childs, Director of Policy/Advocacy at MSF's
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. 'We're concerned that UNITAID
may give in to the companies' demands and move away from its commitment to
ensure access to medicines for people living with HIV in all developing
countries.'
In the township of Khayelitsha, South Africa, MSF is witnessing the acute
need for affordable, new HIV medicines: 16 percent of patients in this
MSF-supported project fail the first-line of HIV treatment within five
years and need to take newer second-line drugs. But the prices of these
newer medicines are dramatically higher: in some countries, switching a
patient from a first- to second-line regimen increases the cost of
treatment as much as seventeen-fold. A third-line regimen, for those
failing second-line, is currently estimated to cost around US$2,300.
According to UNAIDS, beyond Africa, more than eight million people are
currently living with HIV and AIDS in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and
the Caribbean -many of these countries are classified as 'middle-income'.
If companies get their way and these countries are excluded from the
scheme, the Patent Pool will fall far short of its promise.
'In Brazil, just one newer drug, atazanavir, is so expensive that it is
eating up most of the government's budget for AIDS medicines,' said
Gabriela Chaves, MSF pharmacist in Brazil. 'With increasing need for newer
drugs, costs risk spiralling out of control. The consequences of being
excluded from the Patent Pool will be paid by people living with
HIV and AIDS.'
It is critically important that the UNITAID Board make explicit their
original commitment that the Pool should be for the benefit of all
developing countries and that the process for agreeing terms and
conditions includes addressing the needs of patients in 'middle-income'
countries.
'What's at stake is the potential of the Patent Pool to defuse what's
being called the treatment timebomb,' said Michelle Childs. 'In addition
to the use of other public health safeguards like strict patentability
criteria and compulsory licensing, a Patent Pool offers a voluntary
solution. All patients, including those in middle-income countries, need
to benefit.'
Notes to the Editor:
As part of an MSF campaign in support of UNITAID Patent Pool, over 280,000
letters were sent to pharmaceutical companies asking them to put their
patents into the Pool.
MSF received responses from nine of the 10 companies who were the focus of
the campaign, all of whom confirmed that they are engaged in discussions
with UNITAID. A number of companies have made very positive statements
about the potential of the Pool to help deliver the new formulations that
are desperately needed. However, several companies wish to exclude
so-called 'middle-income' countries from benefiting from the medicines
made under licence from the Pool.
In June 2008, the UNITAID Board agreed in principle to establish a Patent
Pool, subject to the approval of a detailed implementation plan. At the
forthcoming meeting on 14 December, the Board will decide whether to
approve the implementation plan, which includes the establishment of a
licensing agency to administer the Pool. If approved, the licensing agency
will seek to agree detailed licensing terms with patent owners and generic
manufacturers. These terms will include which countries can manufacture
and access the medicines made under licence from the Pool.
In a letter sent to the Chair of UNITAID, MSF has asked that UNITAID
retain their original commitment to establish a Pool for the benefit of
all developing countries.
At present, over four million people living with HIV/AIDS in the
developing world receive antiretroviral therapy. An estimated six million
people who are in need of life-saving treatment, are still waiting for
access.
MSF operates HIV/AIDS programmes in around 30 countries and provides
antiretroviral treatment to more than 140,000 HIV-positive adults and
children.
James ARKINSTALL
Senior Communications Officer
Medecins Sans Frontieres - Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
www.msfaccess.org
+33 1 40 21 2837 (office)
+33 6 13 99 7751 (mobile)
"James ARKINSTALL" <James.ARKINSTALL@paris.msf.org>