It is a reality that the development of a country is intimately
related with the innovation generated within. We would be able,
without any fear of being mistaken, to state that Industrial
Property, and particularly patents, represent one of the most
important motors of social and economic development in Latin
America.
In Mexico, the chain of access to medicaments of last generation
established by the public health sector could not be feasible
without the participation of the large pharmaceutical industries,
which constitute the first link of this chain. It is also true,
however, that these industries are hardly criticized when the topic
of the high costs the final user of the molecules must cover in
order to have access to them during the valid period of the patent
that protects them is addressed.
Where is then this thin line between the feasible access of the
health public sector and the benefit of the pharmaceutical
industries?
The answer clearly represents the most controversial point
regarding pharmaceutical patents. On one hand, it is indispensable
that innovators receive a satisfactory reward for the contributions
they make to society, and in order that they continue on the path
of innovation. On the other hand, there is the always controversial
position that patents do not allow society to have access to a
public health service of quality because the commercial benefit is
always placed above the basic social needs.
Taking into account that an average of 12 to 15 years can pass
from the filing of a patent all the way to its grant, and up to
obtaining the health registration to commercialize a new molecule,
it would be logic and even understandable, that a company would
sell its product at an elevated price in order to recuperate an
investment of millions of dollars in a lapse of maybe five
years,.
Nonetheless, the time will always come when, ,a patent expires,
and the molecule(s) that were protected by said patent. will be
sold at prices accessible to all individuals through the presence
of generic medicaments,, which finally represents the patent major
value for a society.
At this point the following questions appear: What would happen to
the access of the public health sector to innovative medicaments
without the presence of the major industries performing the
research and development of new drugs?, What would happen if, on
the basis of a strict regulatory framework, innovators were granted
a greater exclusivity period in exchange of a drop in prices of
their novel molecules?, and finally, Are the current Latin American
Intellectual Property systems effective enough to satisfy this
access to health/business ratio?
In the case of Mexico, a recent wave of over 30 active principles
protected with a patent, have been released to be manufactured and
sold as generics. This wave will now produce in the Mexican society
that effect of beneficial access to health since costs of such
active principles will be reduced from 30% up to 70%, and will
generate approximately three thousand three hundred and forty
million pesos for the next 4 years in public finances according to
data from the Federal Committee for Protection against Health Risks
(COFEPRIS). Among the recently released active principles are
sildenafil (erectile dysfunction), atorvastatine (control of
cholesterol), gemcitabine and bicalutamide (cancer); pioglitazone
(type II diabetes) and olanzapine (schizophrenia).
Clearly, the health of individuals constituting a society must be the real motor that drives all actors of a pharmaceutical industry. However, even in these fundamental health topics, it is undeniable that, as in any industry, economical issues will play a decisive role to be taken into consideration in the pursuit of this balance
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