In a move it hopes will slash the cost of generic medicines in the developing world, the international drug-buying consortium UNITAID on Monday announced the formation of a global patent pool for AIDS medicines.
The plan, which organizers hope to have in operation by mid-2010, represents "an enormous step for humanity," said Philippe Douste-Blazy, UNITAID's chief. The pool won the approval of UNITAID's board at a meeting in Geneva.
Start-up funds - $4 million - will be supplied by UNITAID, which is already in talks with US drug-makers Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Sequoia.
Under the plan, generic pharmaceutical companies would be able to combine newer, more effective drugs from different suppliers into fixed-dose combinations, an approach presently complicated by patent restrictions. By encouraging competition among drug labs, UNITAID believes the pool will cut billions of dollars from the cost of AIDS drugs in developing nations.
The drugs produced would be distributed only in the developing world, where viral resistance to existing treatments is spurring the need for newer medicines still under patent.
UNITAID so far has identified 19 drugs from nine firms for potential inclusion in the patent pool.
A further advantage, Douste-Blazy said, is that the pool would facilitate the production of HIV/AIDS medicines in special doses for children, who now account for 10 percent of demand.
Doctors Without Borders hailed the advancement but warned its success will depend upon the cooperation of patent holders. "This needs to happen fast, as the clock is ticking for millions of patients," said Michelle Childs, DWB's director of policy and advocacy.
12/15/09
GLOBAL: Patent Pool to Boost AIDS Drug Access
Source: Agence France Presse; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention