Abbott Sues Mylan over AIDS Drug

Abbott Laboratories has accused Mylan Inc. of infringing on two patents for Kaletra, a drug used for AIDS.  The patents are due to expire in 2021, but Abott contends that Mylan plans to sell generic copies of Kaletra before that time, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Abott filed the lawsuit after Mylan announced that is Matrix Laboratories, based in India, had received a USFDA approval for the tablets under the president’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief.  Abott says that they company will be “irreparably harmed” if the generic versions of Kaletra aren’t blocked.

GSK Reducing Drug Prices in Developing Countries

Last Friday, GlaxoSmithKline announced a plan that would reduce the prices of several patented medications in 30 of the world’s lowest-income countries.  According to the Wall Street Journal, GSK also said it would invest 20% of its profits from low-income countries into health clinics and other infrastructure.

More details of the plan reveal that GSK will lower the price of medications to 25% of what it would be in developed countries.  GSK plans to include drugs that will treat asthma, hepatitis B and malaria.  Although some GSK drugs are already sold in developing countries, this new plan will reduce the prices of those drugs if they cost more than the 25% mark.

GSK CEO Andrew Witty also announced his proposal of a voluntary patent pool that would fuel development of new treatments for neglected diseases.  Witty directed his comments towards other pharmaceutical companies who could make patents available to other third-party researchers.  Interesting enough, GSK did not include its HIV/AIDS research in the patent pool.  Witty stated that the patent pool is to focus on diseases that do not have treatments.

Of course, there must be monetary reasons as to why GSK would not place its HIV/AIDS research into the patent pool.  However, it is nice to see GSK taking initiative into solving problems in developing countries.

Can Patent Pools Help Defeat AIDS?

Medicines that fight HIV and AIDS have made huge strides in the past decade.  However, Stop AIDS Societies published an article this morning that mentioned the potential benefits patent pools may have on the advancement of HIV and AIDS medications.  As the article states, there is currently a push for a European patent pool to be established under the name UNITAID.  But, what would be the potential effects if the same patent pool concept was brought to America for AIDS medication?

The first difference a patent pool would make is reducing the cost of drugs.  Since patents give a company an exclusive right to produce a drug for the duration of the patent, they are free to charge higher prices without the fear of competition.  Patent pools would allow different drug manufacturers to produce their own versions of the patented drugs, bringing down the prices.

Another difference is that patent pools may make medications easier to take.  For instance, people on HIV treatments may have to take different pills at different times of the day.  Doing so can be rather tough, and may restrict patients from different activities.  If a company wanted to combine three or more drugs into one easy-to-take pill, it would need to enter negotiations with all three patent holders.  Patent pools would give companies the access to all of the patents they need, and after paying a royalty fee, the process of combining the drugs would be much easier.

Yet, in order for a patent pool to work well, many companies must join.  If only a handful of companies join the pool will not be successful, as the pool is only as strong as the patents they possess.  One barrier to pharmaceutical companies joining the pool is that at the end of the day, companies are a business.  They may be hard-pressed to give up an extremely high amount of money to pursue altruistic goals.