Stop AIDS Campaign welcomes historic licence agreement signed between Medicines Patent Pool and Gilead Sciences

Activists warn that with 9m people awaiting treatment, all companies must join and all developing countries must be covered

UK AIDS Campaigners have welcomed the first licence agreement between a pharmaceutical company and the new Medicines Patent Pool which they say could pave the way for increased access to life-saving HIV treatment across the developing world, but emphasised that more must be done to tackle patent barriers to health.

The agreement announced today between the Patent Pool – a new initiative designed to ease generic production of HIV drugs – and Gilead Sciences covers two of its existing products as well as three pipe-line drugs which are in the final stages of testing. The deal is hoped to be the first of many which will create a ‘one-stop shop’ for patents making it much easier for generic drug companies to produce more affordable and appropriate versions of HIV medication for sale across the developing world.

Anton Kerr, Head of Policy at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, a member of the Stop AIDS Campaign coalition welcomed the move;

“By signing this deal Gilead have taken a lead in overcoming some of the barriers which block millions from accessing the lifesaving HIV medication they need. This agreement is an important step in the right direction. We congratulate them and the Patent Pool, and the UK government for their support, but caution that this licence is not perfect and more needs to be done to ensure a sustainable supply of HIV medication for all.”

The Stop AIDS Campaign has been pressing for three years for the creation of a patent pool to facilitate the generic production of HIV drugs. Of the six million people who now have access to lifesaving treatment the vast majority are taking Indian produced generic drugs, made affordable because the monopoly on production was broken and the resulting competition brought prices down.

As patent restrictions on medicines increase – particularly on newer, more effective treatments – initiatives such as the Medicines Patent Pool are vital to maintaining the supply of affordable drugs. A strength of this agreement is the inclusion of two very promising new HIV drugs which are still in clinical development. Once they are given approval for sale, generic manufacturers will also be able to start producing affordable versions for the developing world. Often people in the developing world have to wait years for the latest drugs to become available, and newer medication is often priced out of the reach of the poor.

But Lotti Rutter, Student Stop AIDS Campaign Coordinator stressed that this deal is just part of the solution.

“Gilead are just one company. If we want to get treatment to the tens of thousands of children who are still waiting we need other companies including Johnson & Johnson to stop dragging their heels and sit down and negotiate an agreement with the patent pool.

“We also need the companies, like GSK/ViiV, who are in talks to conclude deals that put people before profit so the generic versions of their drugs can be sold to people in all developing countries, not just the ones they think they can’t turn a profit in.”

Campaigners cautioned that this agreement is far from perfect as it excludes many countries with a population in real need of better treatment, allows only Indian generic production and restricts the supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredients needed to make the pills. Diarmaid McDonald, coordinator of the Stop AIDS Campaign emphasised that this agreement is part of a wider set of moves which need to happen.

“This deal is very welcome but it excludes countries with serious poverty and HIV epidemics like Brazil and China. This deal is a floor, not a ceiling, and we now need to see all other companies reach agreement which exceed these terms. Alongside this countries which have been excluded must utilise their legal right to issue compulsory licences to get the drugs their people need. Furthermore the UK and EC must stop imposing bi-lateral conditions on India through the Free Trade Agreement negotiations which undermine their ability to produce lifesaving medicines and threaten their position as the pharmacy of the world.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 at 11:45 am and is filed under Campaign News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.