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DOCTORS: PATENTS KEEP HIV DRUGS TOO PRICY TO USE
The Associated Press
July 2, 2013 Tuesday 08:18 AM GMT
Doctors Without Borders warned Tuesday that rising intellectual
property rights are blocking the generic production of newer drugs to
treat HIV and are keeping them out of reach for developing countries.
The medical aid group said at an international AIDS meeting here
that prices of older drugs long used to treat patients have fallen
sharply as India and other countries make generics. But newer drugs
that are more effective against the AIDS virus are too expensive,
costing up to 15 times more.
"It's good news that the price of key HIV drugs continues to fall
as more generic companies compete for the market, but the newer
medicines are still priced far too high," said Jennifer Cohn, medical
director for Doctors Without Borders' access campaign. "We need the
newer treatments for people that have exhausted all other options,
but patents keep them priced beyond reach."
Patients can be treated with a combination of three or four older
drugs, but those who develop resistance to them need the expensive
newer medicines.
According to Doctors Without Borders, the governments of Thailand and
Jamaica pay $4,760 and $6,570, respectively, a year per patient for
the new drug darunavir alone. Paraguay pays $7,782 for etravirine,
while Armenia pays $13,213 for raltegravir. In comparison, a cocktail
of older generic drugs costs as little as $139 per person a year.
Doctors Without Borders urged the United States and 11 other countries
negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership not to sign the free-trade
pact. It warned that the pact will increase intellectual property
rights across Asia and the Americas, expanding monopoly protection
for medicines and threatening cheap access to drugs.
It said the World Health Organization's new guidelines, which
recommend earlier treatment for adults, means that an additional
9 million people in developing countries will now be eligible for
treatment. At the moment, only about 60 percent of those who need
the drugs are getting them.
"Scaling up HIV treatment and sustaining people on treatment for
life will depend on bringing the price of newer drugs down," said
Arax Bozadijan, an HIV pharmacist for Doctors Without Borders.
The Trans-Pacific pact countries account for nearly 40 percent of
global GDP and about a third of world trade, and any agreement could
significantly impact prices. President Barack Obama's administration
has said it hopes to wrap up talks by the end of the year.
The Associated Press
July 2, 2013 Tuesday 08:18 AM GMT
Doctors Without Borders warned Tuesday that rising intellectual
property rights are blocking the generic production of newer drugs to
treat HIV and are keeping them out of reach for developing countries.
The medical aid group said at an international AIDS meeting here
that prices of older drugs long used to treat patients have fallen
sharply as India and other countries make generics. But newer drugs
that are more effective against the AIDS virus are too expensive,
costing up to 15 times more.
"It's good news that the price of key HIV drugs continues to fall
as more generic companies compete for the market, but the newer
medicines are still priced far too high," said Jennifer Cohn, medical
director for Doctors Without Borders' access campaign. "We need the
newer treatments for people that have exhausted all other options,
but patents keep them priced beyond reach."
Patients can be treated with a combination of three or four older
drugs, but those who develop resistance to them need the expensive
newer medicines.
According to Doctors Without Borders, the governments of Thailand and
Jamaica pay $4,760 and $6,570, respectively, a year per patient for
the new drug darunavir alone. Paraguay pays $7,782 for etravirine,
while Armenia pays $13,213 for raltegravir. In comparison, a cocktail
of older generic drugs costs as little as $139 per person a year.
Doctors Without Borders urged the United States and 11 other countries
negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership not to sign the free-trade
pact. It warned that the pact will increase intellectual property
rights across Asia and the Americas, expanding monopoly protection
for medicines and threatening cheap access to drugs.
It said the World Health Organization's new guidelines, which
recommend earlier treatment for adults, means that an additional
9 million people in developing countries will now be eligible for
treatment. At the moment, only about 60 percent of those who need
the drugs are getting them.
"Scaling up HIV treatment and sustaining people on treatment for
life will depend on bringing the price of newer drugs down," said
Arax Bozadijan, an HIV pharmacist for Doctors Without Borders.
The Trans-Pacific pact countries account for nearly 40 percent of
global GDP and about a third of world trade, and any agreement could
significantly impact prices. President Barack Obama's administration
has said it hopes to wrap up talks by the end of the year.