[wordup] Disregarding patent protection for the common good

[Adam Shand]

This is exactly the reason why things like medical research should be
funded by the government rather then left to commercial interests to
resolve.  Commercial interests are *NEVER* the same as those of sick
people.

Good for Brazil and good for the UN for backing them.

Via: rebecca <rebecca at wetadigital.com>
From: http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/americas/08/22/aids.drug/index.html

And more from China.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1505000/1505730.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1481000/1481542.stm

Brazil to break patent, make AIDS drug

August 23, 2001 Posted: 9:16 AM EDT (1316 GMT)
By Cristiana Mesquita
Special to CNN

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (CNN) -- Brazil's government plans to break a
patent for a drug used to treat AIDS and begin producing the medication by
week's end, health ministry officials said Wednesday.

The decision to make the drug nelfinavir -- despite the international
patent held by the drug's manufacturer, pharmaceutical giant Roche -- came
after talks sputtered between the Brazilian federal government and the
Swiss-based company.

In a statement, ministry officials said the country would issue a
compulsory license to make the drug, and domestic production would begin
Friday. The drug would not be distributed until early next year.

Daniel Piller, a spokesman for Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland, said
the company wants to continue negotiations. He said it wants to discuss
the matter with the Brazilian government and find out more about its
decision.

"We are very surprised by this position by the Brazilian government,"
Piller said. "So far, we have lowered price by more than 50 percent
compared to the U.S. wholesale price and we are in negotiation with Brazil
for further additional substantial discounts."

Nelfinavir is a protease inhibitor, which blocks HIV from replicating
itself and infecting new cells. It is often used with other drugs as part
of a "drug cocktail" to combat the virus. HIV is the virus that causes
AIDS.

Officials said the health ministry now spends $82 million per year on
nelfinavir, using up 28 percent of its annual budget to treat AIDS
patients.

In Brazil, those who suffer from AIDS receive free medication. The World
Health Organization's latest figures estimate 540,000 people live with HIV
and AIDS in the country.

Producing nelfinavir domestically, ministry officials said, could save
Brazil 40 percent on its drug costs.

Brazil will honor its current contract with Roche, which runs through the
end of 2001, before distributing the domestically-produced brand early
next year.

Similar negotiations with other large drug companies, such as Merck, have
successfully reduced the prices of medications, the ministry said.

Brazil's decision to reproduce AIDS drugs domestically -- and break
patents in the process -- is not unprecedented. Earlier this year, the
United States dropped a suit against Brazil before the World Trade
Organization because of the country's practice of producing generic AIDS
drugs.

The United Nations has praised Brazil's AIDS program and its guaranteed
treatment for all those suffering from HIV and AIDS.