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 “Zilarvi