Press

The controversial Protection and Utilization of Public Funded Intellectual Property Bill, set to threaten access to medicines and future innovative research

Berkeley, CA – Despite appeals from Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), and other public interest groups, the Indian government has refused to modify a secretly drafted legislation that would govern the patenting of the results of publicly funded-research including publicly-funded medical research.

UAEM CALLS ON INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO RECONSIDER LEGISLATION REGARDING THE PATENTING OF PUBLICLY-FUNDED RESEARCH

Berkeley, CA - Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), an international student advocacy group, today called on the Indian government to reconsider legislation that would govern the patenting of the results of publicly funded-research including publicly-funded medical research. The goals of the legislation are unclear and as currently written, the bill would likely harm access to medicines and impede the ability of scientists to conduct innovative research.

Proponents of the Indian bill claim it will help India to commercialize publicly-funded research by encouraging research institutions to seek patents. UAEM today issued a white paper raising questions about the impacts of university patenting in the United States under the Bayh-Dole Act while offering analysis of the Indian bill. The Indian bill is modeled after the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which encouraged research institutions to seek patents and commercialize discoveries made through publicly-funded research. While patenting has risen since the passage of Bayh-Dole, it has also expanded into areas of basic research where patents prevent other research from using basic tools to conduct life-saving research.

1984 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu signed the Philadelphia Consensus Statement on Thursday, joining the call for universities to take action. Tutu signed the PCS after meeting with University of after meeting with University of Michigan UAEM members.

You can read more about this important show of support below in the University of Michigan-UAEM press release.

Archbishop Tutu joins 9 other Nobel laureates in calling for change on our university campuses.

Contact: Sam Houshower
Email: houshower [at] berkeley [dot] edu

For Immediate Release

UAEM URGES AAU TO WITHDRAW ENDORSEMENT OF ESHOO-BARTON FOLLOW-ON BIOLOGICS BILL

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) today called on Robert M. Berdahl, President of the Association of American Universities (AAU), to withdraw its recent endorsement of H.R. 5629, the "Pathway for Biosimilars Acts," which includes a term of exclusivity for market registration data that would effectively increase the length of patents on biologic drugs by up to 14.5 years. This is in contrast to the normal five years of market registration data exclusivity currently in place for small-molecule drugs. Biologics include critical medicines such as insulin and most vaccines, as well as many of the most exciting new treatments that are emerging for conditions such as cancer and autoimmune disease.

The additional exclusivity terms in H.R. 5629 will allow drug companies to keep the price of medicines high by delaying the onset of the generic competition that makes medicines affordable to most people. For example, generic competition has in recent years brought the cost of HIV/AIDS treatment from $15,000 per patient per year to $99 today, making the treatment of millions in developing countries possible. The current cost of brand biologics puts them out of the reach of many. For example, daclizumab, a biologic drug used to prevent organ transplant rejection, costs around $6,300 for a single course of therapy. UAEM argues that universities, as non-profit institutions with a mission to advance knowledge for the global public good, should not take a position that increases the commercial returns on biologic drugs at the expense of access.

Ethan Guillen, Executive Director of UAEM, said, "There is obviously a need for a pathway for generic biologics but this is not it. The AAU needs to explain why nonprofit universities think the desperately poor around the world, not to mention American consumers, should have to wait over a decade to be able to buy affordable, life-saving generic vaccines."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anjali Dalal
Monday, Sept 29, 2008
anjali [dot] dalal [at] yale [dot] edu

Presidential Candidates Pledge Support for Fighting Neglected Diseases

Barack Obama Builds Upon Support for Making Low-Cost Medicines Available in Developing Countries

Berkeley, CA – At the Clinton Global Initiative Thursday, United States presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama highlighted the importance fighting neglected diseases in developing countries. Obama in particular signaled the importance of access to medicines and his campaign released a statement saying that as president, he will "ensure that medications for malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases developed with U.S. taxpayer dollars are available at low costs in developing countries." Ensuring low-cost access to life-saving medicines in developing countries through open licensing and patenting strategies is a key goal for Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM).

The statement expanded on Obama's previous support for "the adoption of humanitarian licensing policies that ensure medications developed with U.S. taxpayer dollars are available off-patent in developing countries." It reinforced the Democratic Party's similar embrace of off-patent availability in its national platform.

Making publicly-funded medicines available off-patent can allow the makers of generic pharmaceutical companies to produce and sell drugs in developing countries. This approach represents little to no loss for companies as the patented medicines are too expensive for those in developing countries to purchase. Universities, which are responsible for much of the basic research that makes new drugs possible, have tremendous power to insist upon open licenses that will ensure that their research benefits the public interest.