[afro-nets] Roche Will Not Enforce Patents on Antiretroviral Drugs

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Roche Will Not Enforce Patents on Antiretroviral Drugs in
"Least-Developed" Countries
---------------------------------------------------------

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern.weitzel@undp.org>

Pharmaceutical company Roche on Wednesday announced it will no
longer file patents for antiretroviral drugs and drugs to treat
other diseases or enforce existing patents on those drugs in
countries that the United Nations has designated as "least de-
veloped," Dow Jones News reports (Dow Jones News, 3/31).

In addition, Roche said it will not file patent applications for
any new antiretroviral drugs in sub-Saharan Africa and will not
take legal action against generic drug manufacturers in the re-
gion that produce versions of drugs for which Roche owns the
patent, according to a Roche release. Roche also said it has
adopted a not-for-profit approach to selling its protease in-
hibitors in least-developed countries.

According to the release, Roche said that such moves "under-
score[e] its belief that long-term success requires businesses
to operate in ways that are not only economically, but also so-
cially and environmentally sustainable."