AFRICA: Pharmaceutical leaders warn that AIDS research could dry up

Representatives of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies warned that proposed amendments to the 1994 Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), that would make it easier for developing countries to produce generic forms of patented medicines, could cause pharmaceutical research and development into AIDS drugs to “dry up”, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The warning was issued by delegates at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in Geneva, Switzerland who met to discuss whether the TRIPS patents and copyright pact should be amended to make it easier for poor countries to get medicines at low cost. Under the TRIPS agreement, new drug patents are protected in the WTO’s 142 member nations for 20 years. Following pressure from activists around the world demanding affordable treatment for poor people living with HIV/AIDS, the TRIPS Council of the WTO is holding its third meeting since June on drug access and intellectual property protection. A statement from Medecins Sans Frontieres on TRIPS and affordable medicines called upon WTO members to support developing countries’ proposal to ensure that the multilateral rules on intellectual property do not harm public health.

“More flexibility in TRIPS would be disastrous for continuing investment in research and development on AIDS,” Dr Rolf Krebs, chair of Boehringer Ingelheim and president of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations, was reported as saying.

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