India Research Opportunities, Price and Patent Problems: Interview With David Scondras

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

India Research Opportunities, Price and Patent Problems: Interview With David Scondras

AIDS Treatment News (06/18/99) No. 321, P. 1
James, John S.

In an interview with AIDS Treatment News, David Scondras, president of Search for a Cure, discusses his recent trip to India. Scondras notes that public health officials, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and CEOs of drug firms in Maharashta are compiling lists of potential treatments they would like to research with the United States. He adds, however, that any clinical trials conducted in India will require the assistance of local researchers and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, so that any successful drug can be submitted to the FDA without problems. Various trials Indian researchers are considering include those for microbicides, less expensive antiretroviral therapies, intermittent therapy, and heavy antiretroviral therapy followed by maintenance with drugs like ddI and hydroxyurea. Scondras says the greatest single problem is the lack of affordable treatments, although others- -such as a lack of clean water and tuberculosis--are also critical. Scondras also discusses India's policy with regards to drug patenting, whereby the government acknowledges patents on the process of developing a drug but considers the final product, the drug, something that should not be limited by a patent.

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