Secondary patents on TB medicines deter access to safer cure

Tuberculosis symbol. Courtesy -Alamy.

Despite the introduction of more effective and safer treatments for tuberculosis, access to these new medicines is constrained by the prevalence of patents, including secondary patents. Secondary patents (also known as “evergreening” patents) refer to new patents on a known medicine. Pharmaceutical companies often file multiple patents on other than the active ingredients, such as on different dosage forms, formulations and methods of treatment. These patents have delayed the entry of cost-effective generic versions of the medicines and thus compromised affordable availability in countries with high TB burden.

A new Third World Network Briefing Paper, “Secondary patents threaten access to new TB medicines” by TWN researcher Prathibha Sivasubramanian, highlights the presence of secondary patents on new TB medicines and discusses their potential impact on access to TB treatment. The paper is now available here on the TWN website.

- Third World Network