Brazil bypasses patent on Merck AIDS drug

Found on Alertnet on Friday, 04 May 2007
Browse Various

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday authorized Brazil to break the patent on an AIDS drug made by Merck & Co. Inc. and import a generic version from India instead.

It was the first time Brazil bypassed a patent to acquire cheaper drugs for its AIDS prevention program, a step recently taken by Thailand. Other countries, including Canada and Italy, have also used a clause in World Trade Organization rules to flout drug patents in the name of public health.

Brazil's government provides free universal access to AIDS drugs and distributes condoms and syringes free as part of a prevention program the United Nations has lauded.

The program helped Brazil slow infection rates and avoid what experts predicted would become an AIDS epidemic. Infection rates among adults have stabilized at about 0.6 percent -- similar to the United States.

Drug makers often reduce prices to keep countries as clients and avoid compulsory licensing. Merck said most middle-income countries like Brazil paid $1.80 per pill for Efavirenz.

Lula's decree could also strain relations with the U.S. government, which has threatened to revoke Brazil's trading partner status unless it does more to protect patents.

That's not just some standard plagiarism, where a chinese company copies toys and DVD's. This is about the health and life of people and should be judged as such. Those who condemn Brazil's step should imagine themselves with a deadly disease when some pharmacist keeps dangling a remedy in front of them, saying "Ha-ha, you cannot afford it". Oh, and about protecting patents: do they really think that spinning advertising signs and counting pages is something one should be able to patent?