The drumbeat has started, said Clemente. Analysts say it is problematic for generic versions of widely patented drugs to be circulating, even in small sales markets like Africa, because it weakens the patent process. Major pharmaceutical companies are suing South Africa over a law that would allow the country to ignore patents and either import or produce generic drugs, under specific circumstances, to protect public health. The suit doesn t just apply to AIDS drugs, the companies say. The patent process is crucial to continued innovation, said Greg Reaves, a spokesman for Merck.
Patents are the basis for high drug prices.
The companies say the revenue allows them to recoup development costs and generate profits to fund new medicines. Pharmaceutical executives are quick to point out that this system created the AIDS drugs in the first place. AIDS activists have been calling for drug companies to offer cheap drug-licensing agreements to poor countries. Drug companies have powerful allies in their effort to keep generics at bay. After meeting with pharmaceutical executives last week, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said intellectual property protection is key to developing new medicines and vaccines for the world s poorest people.