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Show CHARLES H. MONSON PRIZE WINNER SPRING 2013 52 copies of the drugs, paying small royalty fees to the inventors and selling the drugs in predetermined developing countries (Bahree & Herper, 2009). The generic-drug producers are responsible for establishing their own prices for the drugs they produce (Gilead Sciences, 2011). Thus, the drug companies that originally patented a drug still receive modest revenue, as well as avoiding "the uncertainty and expense of negotiating licenses in a context where several different patent holders may hold rights in a single drug or treatment," and developing countries benefit with vastly reduced prices for generic versions of the drugs (WIPO, 2011). An additional benefit of patent pools is that generic drug producers compete to sell their own version of the patented drug, resulting in a lowering of prices in order to provide the most competitively priced product. This is a tremendous benefit to poverty-stricken people affected by HIV/AIDS w h o can only afford extremely low-priced medications. Furthermore, through patent pools, researchers are able to access the patents in order to study the molecular compositions and processes of development of the patented medications, which thus acts to spur the creation of new treatments for AIDS and other diseases (Butler, 2009). The creation of essential-drug patent pools began in early 2009, when GlaxoSmithKline, the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the world, initiated proposals "to create a pool for companies to share patents to boost research into neglected diseases" (Nature, 2009). The drug company pledged to put approximately 500 patents and 300 pending applications into the patent pool, as well as "cut the prices of its drugs in the world's 50 poorest countries to no more than 2 5 % of prices in the developed world" (Nature, 2009). Part of the impetus for Glaxo- SmithKline's creation of a patent pool stemmed from the company's CEO, Andrew Witty, and his personal recognition of the fact that "patents act as a barrier to research and development and that patent pools offer new ways to stimulate research into neglected diseases" (Childs, 2009). However, Witty also stated that he does not consider HIV/AIDS to fall into the category of neglected diseases, considering the amount of research and innovation that has already been dedicated to the virus (Childs, 2009). Notwithstanding Witty's determination that HIV/ AIDS is not a neglected disease, it is evident that, in spite of the existence of innovative, effective medications for treating HIV/AIDS, accessibility to these medications still faces tremendous challenges, such as those posed by patents. The drugs' mere existence is not sufficient. The following year, in 2010, UNITAID, a company dedicated to increasing accessibility to treatment options for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, organized a voluntary patent pool specifically dedicated to HIV/AIDS drugs, called Medicines Patent Pool. The pool is mostly funded by a tax on airline tickets (Hirschler, 2011). Eleven countries help support the pool by levying airline taxes and donating the profits to the pool; France, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Spain are the most prominent donors (Global Health Watch). One unique goal of the UNITAID patent pool is the facilitation of the development of HIV/AIDS medications specific to pediatric patients (WIPO, 2011). Although there are 22 ARV drugs that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, only 14 have been approved for use in children, and 13 are not available in specific pediatric formulations (Childs, 2009). Furthermore, approximately 2.5 million children were recorded as infected with HIV or AIDS in 2009, and 85 percent were not receiving treatment for the infection (WIPO, 2011). Therefore, when speaking in terms of drug accessibility, one must not forget the importance of drug accessibility for all people infected with HIV/AIDS, children and adults alike. In September 2010, the Medicines Patent Pool forged an agreement with the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the licensing of patented HIV/AIDS medications to the pool (WIPO, 2011). The other current member of the pool is Gilead Sciences, whose patents have been licensed to generic companies Aurobindo Pharma, Medchem International, and most recently Hetero Labs (MPP, 2012). UNITAID has also been lobbying and meeting with multiple other drug corporations in an attempt to encourage them to join the pool. At the end of 2011, the pool was in formal negotiations with five drug companies: Boehringer-lngelheim, Bristol- Myers Squibb, F. Hoffman-La Roche, Sequoia Pharmaceuticals, and ViiV Healthcare, as well as conducting discussions with Abbott Laboratories and Merck & Company (MPP, 2012). |