Effort for Lower Drug Prices Would Focus on Gaining Patents

The international agency Unitaid is initiating a process it hopes will result in better access to expensive patented drugs for people in developing nations.

Unitaid, which was established in 2006 to buy medicines to fight HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria, has approved the creation of an expert panel to study the feasibility of creating a "patent pool." Such a pool would hold licenses on patented drugs, which it would then use to make the drugs available to poor countries at lower prices. Its first focus would be AIDS drugs for infants as well as for adults whose HIV has become resistant to first-line drugs.

The patents on most first-line AIDS drugs have expired, meaning they can be obtained cheaply from generic manufacturers. However, most pediatric HIV medicines, as well as second-line drugs, remain under patent and are priced out of the reach of most people in developing nations. Gaining access to these patents will be complicated, as many have multiple holders. The panel would initially comprise five patent law experts and have a budget of $2 million.

Unitaid is supported by numerous nations, not including the United States, who finance its work by collecting a tax on airline tickets.

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