Glaxo Withdraws AIDS Drug Patent Plan in Thailand, India

GlaxoSmithKline has withdrawn applications in India and Thailand seeking to patent its AIDS drug Combid, GSK and advocates said today. GSK introduced the drug to Thailand four years ago, but the nation's Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) has produced and distributed its own generic version at one-fifth of Combid's price for years.

GSK withdrew the patent application in a letter to the Department of Intellectual Property on Aug. 8, one day after international AIDS advocates and about 500 patients staged a protest outside of GSK's Bangkok offices.

The letter "did not explain the reason why Glaxo withdrew its application," said Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul of Doctors Without Borders. He speculated Combid was unqualified for patent protection since it was not a newly invented drug but one that combines existing medications into a single pill. Combining existing drugs does not constitute a new invention, and thus does not merit patent protection, AIDS Access Foundation said.

Of Thailand's 600,000 people with HIV, about 80,000 are receiving treatment. About 18,000 new infections were reported last year. Thailand's treatment program has been credited with slashing AIDS deaths there by about 75 percent. On Wednesday, the World Bank called the program "a useful beacon for other developing countries" seeking to treat HIV patients.

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