The fight to stop the granting of a patent on Combid
On 27th October 1997, the pharmaceutical company, Glaxo- Smith- Klein (GSK) applied to the department of intellectual property rights for a patent on the drug "Combid" in Thailand. Combid is a combination of the existing drugs, Lamivudine (3TC) and Zidovudine (AZT) and is commonly used in first line HIV regiments.
The Thai Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) is currently producing a generic version of the same compound under the name "Zilarvir". This drug is important for many PLHA who cannot take Stavudine (d4T) in their regime due to lipodystrophy side effects. If a patent is granted, the GPO will no longer be able to produce Zilarvir and PLHA currently taking this drug will have to alter their regime to take 2 tablets instead of one, complicating issues of adherence. This will also drastically increase the price of the medicine.
TNP+ along with other HIV/AIDS NGOs, are very concerned about the potential negative impact of a Combid patent and have joined with other interested parties to register our opposition. To date the Health and Development Foundation, an alliance of lawyers, academics and pharmacists, has lodged objections to the granting of a patent on Combid. The first objection was lodged in May 2000 and was on the grounds that Combid is not a new entity but merely a combination of 2 existing widely used drugs. This combination does not constitute an inventive step
This was dismissed in October 2005 citing a lack of evidence.
An appeal was lodged in December 2006 by the Health and Development Foundation and additional information was supplied to support their case.
This is still in the process of being investigated.
In addition to the aforementioned opposition to the granting of a patent, other conflict of interest issues remain:
– a member of the committee for patents in the department of Intellectual property rights is married to an employee of GSK. This individual’s employment was terminated in a response to a complaint by the AIDS ACCESS Foundation, a local Thai NGO.
– another member of the board previously conducted a study for GSK. A complaint regarding this matter has been submitted to the Minister for Commerce and we are still awaiting a response.
Due to the numerous inconsistencies in their decision making, it is questionable whether the office of IPR possesses the capacity or expertise to adequately assess patent applications. This is particularly concerning given the pending Thai- US FTA and the subsequent additional responsibilities that this will bring.
We will continue to fight for the access to safe affordable medication and will fight any applications deemed unlawful or unjust. Access to affordable generic medication is essential in countries such as Thailand in order for the government to afford to provide medication to its PLHA population over the long term. The inappropriate granting of patents to non-new entities and conflicts of interest in the granting of patents only serve to benefit pharmaceutical companies and disadvantage needy PLHA.
To demonstrate our opposition to GSK unjust application for a patent for ‘combid’ a demonstration will be held on Monday 7th August at 10.30 in front of the GSK offices in Wave Place, Thanon Wittayu, Patumwan. We demand that GSK withdraw its combid patent application immediately in the interests of public health and fairness. TNP+ members from all regions of Thailand will come to Bangkok to participate in this action. TNP+ will be joined by AIDS ACCESS Foundation, MSF- Belgium and other NGOs concerned about access to treatment for PLHA.
If you require more information please contact Nimit Tienudom (01 666 6047) of AIDS ACCESS Foundation or Brigitte Tenni of TNP+ (051334530) for comment in English or Chalerm (09 771 0098) of TNP+ for comment in Thai.
2006-08-06
