Patents should be conditional

  Great decision, Sanofi-aventis! Congratulations!

 Sanofi-aventis, a Paris based drug company, has really lived up to its slogan, "Because Health Matters ". In collaboration with the DNDI (Drugs for neglected diseases intiative) Sanofi-Aventis developed an anti-malarial fixed dose combination drug specifically for Africa. The beautiful part is, the company decided not to patent the newly developed drug.  It is indeed a great decision and the company should be congratulated for taking such a society-friendly decision.

          Sub-Sahara Africa is plagued by malaria. Millions of people, especially children, are dying every year due to malaria in this part of the world. Cloroquine is an effective drug for malaria but slowly the malarial parasite is developing resistance to it. A pharmaceutical company joining hands with Non-Governmental Organizations to develop a drug for a desease that mostly affects the developing countries is a very welcome feature. Medicine sans Frontiers, along with five other international medical bodies runs DNDI. A pharmaceutical company doing collaborative work with the NGOs is a great development. But when the company submits the fruits of that developmental work to the world without any desire for minting money; that is really wonderful.

          When many companies are pursuing the path of patents and indecent profits, it is really heartening to see that some companies are having hearts that beat for the public, for the poor deprived humans. Novartis claims patents on minor improvements; it is unable to withdraw its appeals in the court for patents in spite of the fact that several NGOs and some governments requested it to do so. Merck could not reach an agreement with the government of Brazil over the AIDS drug Efavirenz and the Brazilian government issued a compulsory license  on 5^th May 2007.

          Patenting should not become a perversion. Indeed, this business of patenting has turned big Pharma companies into institutions having villainous exploiting nature from the one time positive pillars of society having altruistic protective nature. In the beginning Pharmaceutical Companies used to think of manufacturing medicines that were safe and effective, sell them and earn profits. Then the strategies departments grew faster than the technical departments and they recognized that to grab profits

• 1. they should keep introducing new products every year.
• 2. their new products must have monopoly in the market
• 3. as far as medicines are concerned, the patients are helpless consumers; it is the doctors and the drug traders that are the real clientele who have to be appeased.
• 4. employing people in the marketing and strategies department is more important than employing people in production or R&D.
• 5. Carry out R&D with widespread collaboration; buy the collaborators with big money, obtain patent for minor improvements and earn your money (many more times the money spent) back.
• 6. develop medicines for conditions affecting the rich; only they can pay heavy money.
• 7. influence the popular thinking of the society to suit your position (eg: if you are making cholesterol reducing drugs, you put out ads and you conduct programs to make people feel that cholesterol is dangerous.)

In all this strategizing to grow big and earn big money the first objective of "earning while serving the community" was lost. TRIPS has facilitated the ambitious nature of these Pharma majors and they are unable to see their proper role in today's world.

It is time for the world to act. Just as in the Doha declaration the developing countries ensured that a clause was put in, which permitted "TRIPS compliance in harmony with  public health"; in the next round of review of TRIPS, some mechanism to check the patent holders of medicines should be put in. Probably it can be said that "a patent will be issued for twenty years, but subject to the condition that the price of the drug will be fixed by the formula which includes the manufacturing cost, other establishment costs and a profit margin which includes the profits given to the wholesaler and the retailer." In other words the world may take a look into the Drug Price Control Order of India. If a company wants a patent over a medicine for twenty years, either it should hold the price of the medicine low or it should give license to companies which can hold the price low and accept royalties from them. No company can be allowed to think or claim that it has grown or is growing in isolation, that it is not a part of the society.

     Brazil is showing one way out of paying high cost to medicines by issuing compulsory licenses and not respecting the patent of Merck. India is showing another way out, by promulgating an Act which refuses to give patents for minor improvements.

It is time for world leaders to think on these issues and come out with a settlement and an agreement that gives Big Pharma its benefits and profits but at the same time ensures supply of safe, good quality and effective medicines to the poor and impoverished people of the world.