Chronic patients fight against drug patent
A hundred people living with the Aids virus or chronic diseases yesterday urged the Depart-ment of Intellectual Property to withhold granting a patent to a US pharmaceutical firm, saying it would make it difficult for them to access cheap drugs.
The patients marched to the department’s head office in Nonthaburi, calling for it to reject the patent application of Gilead Sciences Inc for its anti-retroviral drug, a compound of tenofovir and emtricitabine.
The two ingredients are now categorised as general drugs and can be produced by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation.
“If the firm were approved for a patent in Thailand, the GPO would be unable to make tenofovir or emtricitabine, which are normally used for people living with HIV. Then Thai patients must pay more for access to this drug,” said Chalrmsak Kittitrakul, a campaign officer for the Aids Access Foundation.
Tenofovir now sells for Bt810 per 30 tablets, but if it is patented, the price could jump to more than Bt10,000, as the California firm would gain exclusive rights for more than 20 years, he said. Some Aids patients need this medicine every day. The pharma firm should not get the patent because it is not a new formula and is not based on a new innovation, he added.
Gilead applied for the patent in January. The department is now considering whether to award it after the protest period ended in April.
Pajchima Tanasanti, director-general of the department, told the activists that it would base its decision on fair practice and would ensure that local patients would not suffer in the long run.
