The international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has launched a new ‘Patent Opposition Database’ that aims to boost access to medicines in countries increasingly hit by high drug prices. It will be an online resource for civil society and patient groups in developing countries to challenge unwarranted drug patents.

The Database aims to guide civil society groups through the process of challenging an unjustified patent. It will allow organisations to forge new alliances and share vital specialist knowledge, as a patent application can often be challenged in different countries on the same basis. It contains a searchable listing of 45 patent oppositions relating to key medicines and over 200 other supporting documents that will aid in the building of future patent oppositions.

The new Database comes in the wake of the fact that many developing countries face dramatically high drug prices because patents block the production of lower-cost generic versions.

The launch of the database marks the 10-year anniversary of the first time a patent opposition filed by a patient group - Thailand’s AIDS Access Foundation - successfully overturned an unfair patent on the HIV drug didanosine in the Thai courts.

A ‘patent opposition’— a legal challenge to prevent or overturn the granting of an unwarranted patent — is allowed under international trade rules as a way to keep checks and balances on pharmaceutical patenting. In countries where they are allowed, like Thailand, Brazil or India, patent oppositions have successfully prevented undeserved patent monopolies from being granted and allowed generic competition to bring the price of medicines down.

An MSF spokesman said that it relies on affordable medicines for its medical work in more than 60 countries; in the case of HIV treatment, over 80 per cent of medicines used in developing countries are generics. The Patent Opposition Database is accessible at patentoppositions.org.

“Drug companies routinely apply for patents or are granted monopolies on medicines even when these aren’t actually deserved,” said Michelle Childs, director of Policy Advocacy for MSF’s Access Campaign. “It’s a myth that every patent application that is filed is valid. When you look closely, a patent application may fail one or more of the legal tests it needs to pass. The idea behind this database is to help civil society and patient groups stop unwarranted patents from blocking people’s access to more affordable medicines.”

“Successful patent oppositions by civil society in India have enabled us to use more affordable generic versions of key HIV medicines in our treatment
programmes,” said Dr Esther C Casas, MSF HIV/TB Specialist for Zimbabwe.

“Due to the volume of applications, local patent examiners can miss information and grant unjustified patents," explains Vikas Ahuja, president of Delhi Network of Positive People.