E-DRUG: South America: Gilead block access to potential coronavirus treatment for
440 million people
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Buenos Aires, May 12th 2020. Yesterday the American company Gilead Sciences
signed non exclusive voluntary licenses with five generic manufacturers
from India and Pakistan aiming to 'expand the availability of remdesivir'.
The medicine is under clinical trial and is being promoted as 'a promissory treatment' for COVID-19. Even though, during the last weeks, it has been leaked clinical trial's results so far have proven remdesivir's low effectiveness.
The voluntary licenses aim for the production of generic versions of the
drug and to allow access to the medicine in 127 countries. However, is it
nothing but an abusive manoeuvre from Gilead to control the global
market by licencing their technology only to five producers worldwide; and
defining a geographical scope that is excluding most of the countries that
need COVID-19's medicines urgently.
Argentina, and the rest of Latin American countries are not included in
Gilead´s voluntary license. Brazil, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia,
Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia and Venezuela are excluded from the list of 127
countries that Gilead picked up. Latin American countries' health systems
are in crisis and every day the number of infections and deaths caused by
this new virus increases dramatically.
'Gilead launches this commercial campaign around remdesivir and signed
voluntary licenses to condemn Argentinians to pay exorbitant prices for
remdesivir just as it did with sofosbuvir', expressed Lorena Di Giano, Executive Director of Fundación GEP.
In Argentina, Gilead was granted a patent on remdesivir in 2017, and it
still has at least five patent applications filed at the National Institute
of Industrial Property (INPI) that are pending resolution.
'In order to guarantee affordable prices, the only chance for Argentina and
the rest of Latin American countries excluded from the geographical scope
of the license, is to issue compulsory licenses that would allow local
production and imports of generic versions of remdesivir' asserted Lorena
Di Giano.
Gilead actions evidence its attempt to use exclusive rights over remdesivir
in several countries. Thus, Gilead challenges civil society, and replies to
the letter they received from SCOs on March 30th, demanding the resignation
of the rights the company has on remdesivir in more than 70 countries where Gilead has patents over this medicine.
'Gilead's strategy, very similar to the one they applied for sofosbuvir a
few years ago, led us to reflect upon the ineffectiveness of the voluntary
mechanisms. We are losing any hopes in regards to Costa Rica's president's
proposal to OMS [WHO] in order to create a pooling of technologies for COVID-19, an initiative that was strongly supported by organizations from different
countries.
<https://www.presidencia.go.cr/comunicados/2020/03/costa-rica-propone-a-oms-facilitar-condiciones-de-acceso-a-tecnologias-para-combatir-covid-19/>
'We wonder: Are we expecting these companies to licence their
rights and technologies to be used for all those in need no matter where
they live?, added Di Giano.
'Voluntary licenses are the strategy that Big Pharma uses to divert attention from their actual intentions, to simulate altruism, behind are their greedy goals to take ownership of our Right to Health. We must free medical technologies from the cruel patent system.' added Di Bello. 'Medicines are social goods not commodities!'
Contact: lorenadigiano@gmail.com
www.fgep.org
Lorena Di Giano <lorenadigiano@gmail.com>
Fundacion Grupo Efecto Positivo (FGEP), founded in 2006, is a Nonprofit
Civil Society Organization located in Argentina that works to improve the
quality of life of people living with HIV (PLHIV) to ensure the proper
exercise of their rights, their empowerment, their effective involvement in
decision making spaces, and also the elimination of barriers to access to
essential medicines for HIV and Hepatitis C treatments. Since FGEP is
involved with an extensive network of civil society partners, academics and
government officials, it has facilitated multilateral dialogue upon health
public policies.