On Thursday, the US National Institutes of Health said it is sharing the intellectual property rights to some patented AIDS drugs with an international patent pool.
The international health financing system UNITAID first announced the patent pool in December. Under the mechanism, generic drug makers copy patented medicines, making them available to poor countries, in exchange for royalties for patent holders. NIH holds multiple HIV-related patents; the new agreement involves protease inhibitors.
Drug makers including Merck, Tibotec, and Gilead have been in advanced talks about joining the patent pool, a UNITAID official said in July. Other firms - GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer's ViiV Healthcare venture among them - have said they prefer to negotiate individually with generic drug companies in developing nations.
"This license underlines the US government's commitment to the Medicines Patent Pool and its goal to increase the availability of HIV medicines in developing countries," said Francis S. Collins, NIH's director. "We are now discussing licensing to the Medicines Patent Pool other patents that could have a positive impact on the treatment of HIV/AIDS."
UNITAID's chair, Philippe Douste-Blazy, applauded the decision by NIH and urged other patent holders to join the effort.
10/04/10
GLOBAL: NIH to Share Patents on AIDS Drugs
Source: Chicago Tribune (09.30.10):: Reuters; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention