Thai AIDS Patients Protest GlaxoSmithKline Over Drug Patent

Hundreds of activists today protested outside the Bangkok offices of GlaxoSmithKline to demand it stop trying to patent its AIDS drug Combid in the Southeast Asian nation. The Thai government produces a generic version of Combid for about one-fifth the cost of the brand-name version introduced to the country four years ago. AIDS Access Foundation activists are arguing that Combid, a combination treatment, does not deserve a patent because combining existing drugs does not constitute a new invention, and they said Britain rejected a patent on similar grounds. If the patent is granted, the activists say Thailand would have to stop supplying the generic version, risking the health of thousands of patients. Thailand's treatment program is credited with cutting its AIDS death rate by 75 percent in the last year.

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