Battleangel

Brazil announced late Friday that it would start copying an AIDS drug made by the American pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories to provide a cheaper version for its AIDS treatment program, becoming the first country to break the patent of an antiretroviral medicine.

The Brazilian government, which provides free AIDS treatment to all who need it, estimates that it will save about 130 million reais a year, or about $55 million, by making a generic version of the drug, called Kaletra.

The government contends that it can make the drug for 68 cents a pill, almost half the $1.17 that it is paying Abbott for the medication.

The decision could strain relations between the left-leaning government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the Bush administration, which has been pressing Brazil in trade talks to step up its protection of intellectual property rights. Several members of Congress have already asked the United States trade representative, Rob Portman, to retaliate by applying trade sanctions.

Source: New York Times

This will be the first time that Brazil actually breaks a patent, as it announced it would earlier this year. Abbotts of course goes on to give the usual rant about how this will stifle their research efforts and future products even though there is evidence to the contrary. The US has also made bellicose statements over the alleged widespread “piracy” of intellectual property, like CDs and DVDs. Go Brazil!