Brazilian Patent Office Declares AIDS Drug Of Public Interest

Claudia Jurberg
IP-Watch
April 22, 2008

  The Brazilian government recently declared the drug Tenofovir, used against HIV/AIDS, to be of public interest. The announcement signals the country’s interest in using an option to avoid the patent on the drug and beginning the process of issuing a compulsory license for the antiretroviral which is produced by the Gilead Science biopharmaceutical company.

The Brazilian patent office, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), released a technical opinion in the Revista de Propriedade Industrial (Industrial Property Magazine) on 8 April, on patent application number PI 9811045-4, the patent for Tenofovir. The technical opinion explains that Tenofovir is inconsistent with Articles 8, 10 (VIII), 13, 24 e 25 of the Law nº 9279/96, the Brazilian patent law. The decision was published in the Official Daily.

Gilead was notified about the decision on 8 April and has 90 days to express its opinion. At the end of this time, the INPI will publish the final decision in accordance with the Brazilian law.

With the declaration of public interest by the Health Ministry, INPI could give priority to the examination of an appeal by Gilead.

Tenofovir is one of the most expensive antiretrovirals in Brazilian national AIDS programme. According Health Ministry, the drug is used by 30,000 patients. The annual cost of this antiretroviral is U$1,387 per patient per year. The overall annual cost is approximately US$40 million, or 10 percent of the total cost of drugs in the Brazilian programme. In Brazil, patients with AIDS receive free treatments.

India produces a generic version of Tenofovir and this treatment cost US$170 per patient per year. If Brazil imported from India, the yearly savings could be more than US$30 million.

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Photo posted under the creative commons license on flickr.com by PPDIGITAL.