State’s undue protection of patents said to disadvantage patients

WHAT do breast cancer, cancer of the plasma cells, hepatitis B, epilepsy, rheumatoid arthritis, schizophrenia, oral contraception and HIV treatments have in common?

They all have essential, life-saving and protecting medicines that are inaccessible to the very people they are meant to save and ease pain for – South African patients.

In a new report by the Fix the Patent Laws campaign, due to be released today, the extent of the inaccessibility of these medicines is laid bare in nine case studies of medicines currently blocked in the country due to the stringent intellectual property (IP) laws.

According to the campaign, the report seeks to demonstrate how “systemic shortcomings in South Africa’s patent laws negatively impact on access to medicines to treat a wide range of diseases in both the public and private sectors”.

The release of the report coincides with an expected march to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) this morning by the campaign members, as they were also due to hand over their submission on the new Intellectual Property Consultative Framework.

The aim is to demand change that will make and bring medicines that are more affordable to the public. Three years ago, the DTI released a draft National Policy on IP, committing to national patent law reform to fully adopt the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips).

In July, the cabinet approved a new IP Consultative Framework for SA, which was open to submissions on recommendations on the framework.

“The case studies illustrate how a flawed system can allow pharmaceutical companies to prolong their monopoly periods in South Africa for years – and sometimes even decades – after their patent protections have expired in other parts of the world, to the detriment of millions of patients here,” the report stated.

One example of this is the breast cancer drug trastuzumab, known as Herceptin in this country. “For the majority of women with HER-2-positive breast cancer, lifesaving trastuzumab is unaffordable. Patent monopolies could block the use of more affordable biosimilar products in the country until 2033,” the report indicated.

In the private sector, a 12-month course of the drug costs R485 800, or more if higher dosing is needed.

The report also explored how patent protections inhibit the use of more affordable generic and biosimilar versions of many medicines available in other countries where patent protection was not granted, had expired or was overturned.

The campaign explained that to prolong their periods of patent protection, companies commonly applied for multiple patents on individual medicines over time – a tactic known as ever-greening.

“Due to shortcomings in South African laws – a lack of examination for patent applications – ‘evergreening’ occurs frequently,” it said.