China changes patent law in fight for cheaper drugs

Published: 12-Jun-2012

Will issue compulsory licences to allow generic drugs to be produced during state emergencies


China has updated parts of its intellectual property laws to allow its pharmaceutical manufacturers to make cheap copies of medicines still under patent protection, according to Reuters.

The Chinese move comes within months of a similar move by India, which granted a compulsory licence in March to Natco Pharma to manufacture Bayer’s cancer drug Nexavar.

The amended Chinese patent law allows the country to issue compulsory licences to eligible companies to produce generic versions of patented drugs during state emergencies, or unusual circumstances, or in the interests of the public.

For ‘reasons of public health’, eligible pharmaceutical manufacturers can also ask to export these medicines to other countries, including members of the World Trade Organisation.

Compulsory licences are available to nations to issue under WTO rules in certain cases where life-saving treatments are unaffordable.

‘The revised version of Measures for the Compulsory Licensing for Patent Implementation came into effect from 1 May, 2012,’ China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) said in a statement to Reuters.

The changes can be found on the website of China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).

China's generic drugmakers have been producing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for years, exporting them to foreign drugmakers, which then sell the patented finished products back to China at prices unaffordable to the average Chinese patient.

In particular, the Chinese government is struggling to provide newer HIV drugs, such as Gilead's tenofovir, known by its brand Viread.

Although Gilead moved to share its intellectual property rights on its medicines in a patent pool with generic drugmakers from many countries last July in return for a small royalty, China was excluded, which meant it had to continue paying high prices for tenofovir, said Reuters.

Since the change in China's patent law, it is thought that Gilead has offered certain concessions, including giving China a substantial donation of tenofovir if it continues to buy the same amount.

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