Wall Street Journal - November 25, 2002

But less than a decade later, much of the progress is at risk. A powerful alliance of countries and activist groups is trying to use the launch of the latest round of World Trade Organization negotiation to strip away protection for drug patents. Worse, there are worrying signs that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, desperate for any appearance of progress, may acquiesce.

WTO negotiators are meeting in Geneva to flesh out the meaning of last year's Doha declaration, which said the world's poorest countries should be allowed to ignore patents when faced with epidemics including HIV, malaria and TB. The U.S. went along with the measure because of its narrow scope, and even the drug industry didn't object.

But the list of alleged justifications for patent seizure seems to be growing longer by the day. The latest drafts we've seen would allow any country to import copycat drugs when faced with any self-declared epidemic -- be it cancer or erectile dysfunction.

The prime movers here are countries like India and Argentina, which do not respect patents and have large knock-off pharmaceutical industries looking for new markets. These industries, in turn, fund activists who charge that the high price of patented drugs fuels epidemics like AIDS in Africa. And they've all found a willing ally in European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, who sees the patent issue as a great way to divert Third World anger over the EU's protectionist agricultural policies. America, Britain and Switzerland -- the only countries with innovative, research-based pharmaceutical industries -- find themselves pretty much alone.

That doesn't mean the U.S., with consumers who fund the world's drug research, can't stand its ground. But clearly the folks producing these radical proposals don't believe Mr. Zoellick intends to go to the mat for an industry with little support on Capitol Hill. The Bush Administration has shown a worrying tendency to satisfy itself with Pyrrhic victories (the terror insurance and education bills) and has frittered away its credibility on international trade with steel tariffs and a European-style farm bill.

There is little evidence to support the complaints about drug patents.

Many poor countries lack the health infrastructure to distribute medicines or even diagnose disease, which is why numerous attempts by pharmaceutical companies to provide them with cheap drugs have found few takers. If the anti-patent lobby gets its way, that won't change. Rather, a glimpse of the future can be seen in India, where 20,000-plus drug makers churn out cheap copies of Viagra and Rogaine for rich urbanites while treating less than 1% of the country's 4 million HIV cases. American pharmaceutical makers would lose the incentive to develop new drugs, while poorer countries would lose any incentive to develop research-based drug industries of their own.

American negotiators, moreover, would be naive to think that the attempted pillage will stop here. If the need for drugs justifies the seizure of intellectual property, why not the need for medical technology or software? Watch out, Bill Gates.

Today's crusade against drug patents is just the sharp end of a broader assault on intellectual property and global capitalism in general. The pressure is on to produce a text for a vote in December, and putting a stop to this challenge could well require courage on the part of the American team. The WTO's current intellectual property regime is the result of a decade of hard work -- gains won in part because of the willingness of then-U.S. Trade Rep Carla Hills to walk away from a 1990 conference in Brussels. It would be foolish to throw that all away for the sake of a quick agreement now.

021125
WJ021107

Copyright © 2002 - The Wall Street Journal. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the WSJ Permissions Desk.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2002. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .