[Ip-health] Philippines, Senator Mar Roxas: CPR ON BIRD FLU - Compulsory licensing urged for Tamiflu

* Senator Mar Roxas, chair of the Senate committee on trade and
commerce, articulated his goal to push for the compulsory licensing
of the bird flu drug Tamiflu as a =93calibrated preemptive response=94
against a possible pandemic.

*=93Because of stringent patent laws, to manufacture a generic Tamiflu
is not possible today,=94 Roxas said. =93That is also why I filed Senate
Bill 2139 to allow amendments on patent and intellectual property
laws in order to bring down the prices of medicines and make them
accessible to the general public. We need this law to be passed more
than ever especially with the threat of bird flu.=94

*The United States has already expressed its goal to stockpile more
than 81 million courses of Tamiflu, but reports have indicated that
other countries have beaten the US to the draw.  Consequently, Roche
could only supply two million courses to the US. In case of an
epidemic, reports said France, Britain, Norway, Finland and
Switzerland could only treat 20% to 40% of their population. The US
can only care for 2% of Americans because of the increasing orders
from Roche.

*As of this writing, the Philippines has zero supply of Tamiflu.

http://marroxas.blogspot.com/2005/11/cpr-on-bird-flu-compulsory-
licensing.html

Senator Mar Roxas
Wednesday, November 02, 2005

CPR ON BIRD FLU - Compulsory licensing urged for Tamiflu

Senator Mar Roxas, chair of the Senate committee on trade and
commerce, articulated his goal to push for the compulsory licensing
of the bird flu drug Tamiflu as a =93calibrated preemptive response=94
against a possible pandemic.

=93I urge the Department of Health to seek the compulsory licensing of
Tamiflu as a calibrated response to preempt the coming and spread of
bird flu in the Philippines,=94 Roxas said. =93The health department must
work double time to do this because the present compulsory licensing
laws impose time delay requisites like publication requirements,
notices and hearings before a decision is made by the Intellectual
Property Office," he added.

Roxas made this call after the recent announcement of Roche, a
leading pharmaceutical company based in Switzerland, to share its
technology with other companies and governments =93under licenses=94 to
fast track production of the drug.

Demand for Tamiflu, the only drug up to this point which can arrest
the spread of bird flu infection, has jacked up phenomenally during
the last few months due to increased presence of bird flu virus in Asia.

According to a statement released by Roche, the drug company has
increased production of Tamiflu considerably by doubling production
in its factories and laboratories and by signing partnership
agreements with other factories.

Roche disclosed that under current agreements entered into by
company, 13 factories agreed to actively participate in the
manufacturing the drug, of which seven are not part of the Roche group.

=93The Philippines should take advantage of this openness by Roche and
see how our local drug manufacturers could also help in the
manufacturing of the said drug,=94 Roxas said. =93Other countries are
having a difficult time making orders for the drug. Rather than fall
in line for a purchase, why not be part of the team that manufactures
Tamiflu? Roche is open to sharing its technology, of which the
Philippines could benefit from immensely.=94

Roche disclosed that the production of Tamiflu involves going through
10 stages, which takes about 12 months to finally produce in end-user
form. It involves very =93delicate steps=94, Roche revealed, which are
carried out in factories especially constructed for the purpose.
That=92s why the company is open to sharing its know-how to ensure
quality control.

The patent for Tamiflu, which runs until 2016, would make it
difficult for other drug companies to manufacture it as a =91generic
drug=92. Generic drugs are produced when a patent expires and the
product becomes public property.

=93Because of stringent patent laws, to manufacture a generic Tamiflu
is not possible today,=94 Roxas said. =93That is also why I filed Senate
Bill 2139 to allow amendments on patent and intellectual property
laws in order to bring down the prices of medicines and make them
accessible to the general public. We need this law to be passed more
than ever especially with the threat of bird flu.=94

The H5N1 strain of Bird Flu has caused about 63 deaths in Southeast
Asia since December 2003, most were exposed to infected chickens.
Vietnam tops the list, followed by Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia.
The United States has already expressed its goal to stockpile more
than 81 million courses of Tamiflu, but reports have indicated that
other countries have beaten the US to the draw.

Consequently, Roche could only supply two million courses to the US.
In case of an epidemic, reports said France, Britain, Norway, Finland
and Switzerland could only treat 20% to 40% of their population. The
US can only care for 2% of Americans because of the increasing orders
from Roche. As of this writing, the Philippines has zero supply of
Tamiflu.

=93Compulsory licensing of Tamiflu is my version of a calibrated
preemptive response to a possible pandemic. It is calibrated because:
We are not going against any law; preemptive because we are seeking
to secure ample supply of the medicine even before the disease
spreads to unmanageable proportions; and a good response, obviously
because we are ten steps ahead of the problem.=94

At present, there are compulsory license applications pending before
the IPO (Intellectual Property Office) since 1992.