Patent Pool Could Bring New HIV/AIDS Treatments To Poorer Nations
The international organization UNITAID will launch a new patent pool to lower the cost of HIV/AIDS drugs for poorer countries, the Executive Board announced Monday. The patent pool is set to open in mid-2010 and is expected to save over one billion dollars annually.
In a patent pool, companies allow their drugs to be produced generically in exchange for royalties, or a percentage of the revenue. This reduces the price of newer medications that are still under patent, making them more affordable for HIV-positive individuals in poorer nations.
The generic drugs will only be available in low- and middle-income nations, where the brand-name medications are financially out of reach for patients.
“This is an historic day,” said Philippe Douste-Blazy, Chair of UNITAID’s Executive Board, in a press release. “UNITAID has now put in place a mechanism that will make medical advances work for the poor, while compensating companies for sharing their technology.”
The patent pool may also make combination therapy more convenient. UNITAID has identified 19 products from nine different companies for the pool, which has the potential for creating fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs. FDCs can include two or more different drugs in one tablet, easing the pill burden and dosage calculations on patients.
This is especially relevant for children, who can have difficulty swallowing multiple pills throughout the day.
Patent pools have been discussed for several years. More recently, a group of 15 organizations sent a letter to GlaxoSmithKline, urging the company to pool its anti-HIV medications (see related AIDS Beacon news).
UNITAID has committed to contribute $4 million in start-up funds and has already consulted with Merck, Sequoia, Gilead, and Tibotec. The next step is to reach agreements with the various pharmaceuticals to get the drugs out on the market and available to the public.
Since 2006, UNITAID has purchased drugs for AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. It is hosted by the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
For more information, please see the press release at the UNITAID Web site.
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