License granted to replicate drug against aids

License granted to replicate drug against aids

Thanks to a new international rule for patents’ flexibility, Ecuadorian government issued a compulsory license to replicate, without commercial intentions, a patented drug useful to fight AIDS.

According to Andres Ycaza, president of the Ecuadorian Institute of Intellectual Property (EIIP),the process started last November and allows for the first time an Ecuadorian laboratory to replicate a drug.

The laboratory will produce a generic drug which currently costs $753 for a box of thirty pills. Thanks to the “compulsory license”, the  price is supposed to fall between 30% and 70%.

Ycaza also announced that,  under the Constitution which ensures “availability and access to safe and efficient drugs”, AIDS victims will have free access to pharmaceutical treatment. (JBM)