Boehringer Ingelheim, a pharmaceutical company focused on research, recently announced that it seeks to improve the access that HIV and AIDS patients have to antiretroviral medication to treat their illnesses.
To accomplish this, the company intends to broaden its Intellectual Property (IP) enforcement policy. This policy was already expanded in 2007 through a non-asset, easy-to-use declaration of Viramine (nevirapine).
“The core task of Boehringer Ingelheim is the research and development of innovative medication,” Yew Liew, Boehringer Ingelheim's senior vice president of emerging markets, said. “We feel responsible for making innovative medicines like nevirapine accessible and affordable for patients in developing countries. Through making these medicines available, we address an unmet medical need and can save lives -- especially in low-income societies.”
As of today, there are 12 manufacturers that have been prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the non-assert Viramine declaration. With this new enforcement policy, the company will not choose to enforce the nevirapine patient rights with generic kinds of Viramine if they have acceptable quality within eligible nations.
This new policy will improve the access that HIV/AIDS patients have to medication, even in emerging economies. Waiving the enforcement patent rights of nevirapine is projected to affect 135 low to middle-income countries.
