HIV-drug patent try decried

Published on February 22, 2006

About 50 activists from the Network of People Living with HIV/Aids called upon the Intellectual Property Department yesterday to ban Glaxo Smith Kline’s application for a patent registration of its antiretroviral drug “Combid”.
The group met with Commerce Permanent Secretary Karun Kittisataporn and said that the approval of the Combid registration would keep more than 100,000 HIV-positive individuals in Thailand from accessing the drug.
Generic versions of the drug cost Bt1,500 per course. If the drug is patented, the price would increase to Bt8,000, the group claimed. The company already has a patent for the drug in the United States and Europe, where it is known as Combivir.

In fact, Glaxo’s Combid drug cannot be registered because it derives from a combination of existing substances instead of new ingredients, a source from an HIV group said, adding that if patent were approved, Glaxo would enjoy monopoly rights of the HIV drug in Thailand.

In 1997, Glaxo tried to apply for a patent in Thailand but its request was suspended because of opposition from Aids advocates.

The activist group also expressed concern about a free trade agreement being negotiated with the US as it relates to the Combid patent registration.

A member of the group pointed out that Glaxo would raise this issue in the current free trade talks between Thailand and the US.

“Once the medicine is patented, it will create a negative effect for patients seeking access to the medicine,” one activist said.

Karun, who is also a chief negotiator for in the talks with the US, said the ministry would consider the information in light of the most benefits going to concerned people.

“The ministry will work on the basis of benefits for the Thai people. But as the process now is at the stage of consideration by the patent committee, we will pass the information to them,” he said.

The Intellectual Property Department recently rejected a patent registration attempt by Glaxo, citing incomplete information. But now the department has agreed to move forward with the patent process, said Kanissorn Navanugraha, director general of the department.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation