Ellen 't Hoen: Pool medical patents, save lives

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: erin wang 審譯者: Audrey Her

In 2002, a group of treatment activists met

2002年 一群為愛滋病治療積極奔走的活躍人士

to discuss the early development of the airplane.

聚在一起討論飛機早期的發展

The Wright Brothers, in the beginning of the last century,

萊特兄弟在上世紀初

had for the first time managed

首次成功實現

to make one of those devices fly.

人工飛行

They also had taken out numerous patents

萊特兄弟還為飛機的核心部件

on essential parts of the airplane.

申報了大量的專利

They were not the only ones.

當時 並非只有萊特兄弟這麼做

That was common practice in the industry,

這種做法在業界普遍存在

and those who held patents on airplanes

而這些飛行器專利的持有者

were defending them fiercely

大力維護自己的專利權

and suing competitors left and right.

對競爭者的任何侵權行為一定控訴到底

This actually wasn't so great for the development of the aviation industry,

實際上這種做法不利於航空工業的發展

and this was at a time that in particular the U.S. government

而當時 美國政府又特別希望

was interested in ramping up

可以大幅提高

the production of military airplanes.

軍用飛機的產量

So there was a bit of a conflict there.

所以矛盾也就出現了

The U.S. government decided to take action,

美國政府決定採取行動

and forced those patent holders

強迫專利持有者

to make their patents available to share with others

將其持有的專利與他人共享

to enable the production of airplanes.

從而實現飛機的量產

So what has this

那麼這兩者

got to do with this?

又是如何產生聯繫的呢？

In 2002, Nelson Otwoma, a Kenyan social scientist,

2002年 一位名叫Nelson Otwona的肯尼亞社會科學家

discovered he had HIV and needed access to treatment.

被發現攜帶HIV病毒 需要接受治療

He was told that a cure did not exist.

醫生告訴他愛滋病是無法治愈的

AIDS, he heard, was lethal,

愛滋病是一種致命的疾病

and treatment was not offered. This was at a time

沒有可以治愈愛滋病的療法 但實際上

that treatment actually existed in rich countries.

當時在富裕的國家治療方法是存在的

AIDS had become a chronic disease.

愛滋病已經變成一種慢性病

People in our countries here in Europe, in North America,

在歐洲在北美 在我們的國家

were living with HIV, healthy lives.

攜帶HIV病毒的人們也可以健康地生活

Not so for Nelson. He wasn't rich enough,

但對於Nelson情況卻不是這樣

and not so for his three-year-old son, who he discovered a year later

Nelson不是有錢人 他三歲的兒子更不是

also had HIV.

在Nelson被診斷出HIV病毒後一年 他的兒子也被查出攜帶HIV

Nelson decided to become a treatment activist

Nelson決定成為一名治療活躍人士

and join up with other groups.

並加入了其他團體

In 2002, they were facing a different battle.

在2002年 他們面臨的是一場不同的戰鬥

Prices for ARVs, the drugs needed to treat HIV,

ARVs是一種用於治療HIV的藥物

cost about 12,000 [dollars] per patient per year.

而當時ARVs的價格高達每名患者每年一萬兩千美元

The patents on those drugs were held

西方的一些製藥公司

by a number of Western pharmaceutical companies

持有這些藥物的專利權

that were not necessarily willing

而這些製藥公司並不太希望

to make those patents available.

將持有的專利與他人共享

When you have a patent, you can exclude

只要持有專利便可以限制他人

anyone else from making, from producing or making

製造或是生產

low-cost versions, for example,

廉價的產品 比如說

available of those medications.

生產廉價的藥品

Clearly this led to patent wars breaking out

很顯然 這種做法觸發了

all over the globe.

全球範圍內的專利戰

Luckily, those patents did not exist everywhere.

幸運的是 這些專利並非無處不在

There were countries that did not recognize

有一些國家 比如像印度

pharmaceutical product patents, such as India,

並不承認醫藥產品專利

and Indian pharmaceutical companies

一些印度製藥公司

started to produce so-called generic versions,

開始生產所謂的

low-cost copies of antiretroviral medicines,

通用版和廉價版的抗逆轉錄藥物

and make them available in the developing world,

並將這些藥物投放到發展中國家

and within a year the price had come down

一年之內 這些藥物的價格便從

from 10,000 dollars per patient per year

每名患者每年一萬美元

to 350 dollars per patient per year,

下降到每名患者每年350美元

and today that same triple pill cocktail

而今天每名愛滋病患者每年只需花費60美元

is available for 60 dollars per patient per year,

便可以接受三聯雞尾酒療法

and of course that started to have an enormous effect

當然 產生的影響是巨大的

on the number of people who could afford access

越來越多的患者

to those medicines.

將能夠負擔起藥物費用

Treatment programs became possible,

有可能接受治療

funding became available, and the number of people

有能力支付費用 並且服用抗逆轉錄藥物患者的

on antiretroviral drugs started to increase very rapidly.

人數開始大幅增長

Today, eight million people

現在有800萬人口

have access to antiretroviral drugs.

能夠拿到抗逆轉錄藥物

Thirty-four million are infected with HIV.

而感染HIV病毒的患者有三千四百萬

Never has this number been so high,

這個數字是前所未有的

but actually this is good news,

但事實上這是好消息

because what it means is people stop dying.

因為這意味著人們的死亡率在降低

People who have access to these drugs stop dying.

能夠獲得藥物治療的人便可免於一死

And there's something else.

除此之外

They also stop passing on the virus.

病毒攜帶者也不會繼續傳染給其他人

This is fairly recent science that has shown that.

最新的科學研究已經表明了這一點

What that means is we have the tools

這就意味著

to break the back of this epidemic.

我們已經有辦法可以抑制愛滋病毒的傳播

So what's the problem?

那麼 問題是什麽呢？

Well, things have changed.

嗯 情況已經變了

First of all, the rules have changed.

首先 規則變了

Today, all countries are obliged to provide

現今 所有國家都必須為藥物申報專利

patents for pharmaceuticals that last at least 20 years.

每項專利的時限最少為20年

This is as a result of the intellectual property rules

世貿組織的知識產權法

of the World Trade Organization.

促成了這一結果

So what India did is no longer possible.

所以 印度的做法不再可行

Second, the practice of patent-holding companies have changed.

其次 持有專利的公司也改變了自己的做法

Here you see the patent practices

這張圖顯示的是 世貿組織出臺知識產權法規之前

before the World Trade Organization's rules, before '95,

也就是1995年之前 抗逆轉錄藥物出現之前

before antiretroviral drugs.

藥物專利申報的情況

This is what you see today,

而這張圖顯示了現在藥物專利的申報情況

and this is in developing countries, so what that means is,

這是在發展中國家 也就意味著

unless we do something deliberate

除非我們能夠慎重考慮

and unless we do something now,

馬上採取一些行動

we will very soon be faced with another drug price crisis,

否則要不了多久就會發現 我們將面臨另一場藥物價格危機

because new drugs are developed,

因為不斷在開發新藥 不斷有新藥投入市場

new drugs go to market, but these medicines are patented

但這些藥物都有專利限制

in a much wider range of countries.

而且這些專利被更多國家認可

So unless we act, unless we do something today,

因此 除非我們現在馬上採取行動

we will soon be faced [with] what some have termed

否則很快我們便將面臨

the treatment time bomb.

一些人所說的治療時間炸彈

It isn't only the number of drugs that are patented.

不僅僅是申報專利藥物的數量

There's something else that can really scare

使得通用製藥商退避三舍

generic manufacturers away.

還有一些其他的因素

This shows you a patent landscape.

從這裡 可以看到專利分佈圖

This is the landscape of one medicine.

這是一種藥物的專利分佈圖

So you can imagine that if you are a generic company

因此 可以想像如果你是一家通用製藥公司

about to decide whether to invest

正要決定是否投資開發一項產品

in the development of this product, unless you know

那麼除非你知道

that the licenses to these patents

確實可以獲得

are actually going to be available,

這項產品的專利許可

you will probably choose to do something else.

否則你可能另有打算

Again, deliberate action is needed.

再次強調 我們必須慎重考慮並採取行動

So surely

因此 可以肯定的是

if a patent pool could be established

如果通過成立一個專利聯盟

to ramp up the production of military airplanes,

可以大幅提升軍用飛機的量產

we should be able to do something similar

那麼我們也應該能夠用類似的方式

to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

解決HIV或愛滋病毒的傳播

And we did.

我們確實做到了

In 2010, UNITAID established the Medicines Patent Pool

2010年 國際藥品採購機制（UNITAID）成立了

for HIV.

HIV藥物專利聯盟

And this is how it works:

它的運作方式是這樣的

Patent holders, inventors

研發新藥物的專利持有者 藥物發明者

that develop new medicines

為新發明的藥物

patent those inventions,

申報專利

but make those patents available

但向藥物專利聯盟開放這些新藥物的專利許可權

to the Medicines Patent Pool. The Medicines Patent Pool

藥物專利聯盟再將這些專利許可權

then license those out to whoever needs access to those patents.

授權給任何有需要的人

That can be generic manufacturers.

可能是通用製藥商

It can also be not-for-profit drug development agencies,

也可能是非盈營利藥物開發機構

for example.

等等

Those manufacturers can then sell those medicines

然後這些製藥商便能夠以極低的價格

at much lower cost to people who need access to them,

向有需要的人和治療計劃

to treatment programs that need access to them.

出售這些藥物

They pay royalties over the sales to the patent holders,

通過銷售營利 他們向專利持有者支付版權費用

so they are remunerated for sharing their intellectual property.

因此專利持有者也因為 分享自己的知識產權獲得報酬

There is one key difference

這與飛機專利聯盟

with the airplane patent pool.

唯一不同的地方在於

The Medicines Patent Pool is a voluntary mechanism.

藥物專利聯盟是一個自發的機制

The airplane patent holders were not left a choice

飛機專利持有者並沒有選擇的餘地

whether they'd license their patents or not.

無論是否願意

They were forced to do so.

他們都不得不授權自己的專利

That is something that the Medicines Patent Pool cannot do.

藥物專利聯盟沒有權力強迫任何人

It relies on the willingness of pharmaceutical companies

完全依賴製藥公司的自願自發

to license their patents and make them available

向他人授權自己的專利權

for others to use.

為他人所用

Today, Nelson Otwoma is healthy.

今天 Nelson Otwoma可以健康地生活

He has access to antiretroviral drugs.

他能夠接受抗逆轉錄藥物的治療

His son will soon be 14 years old.

他的兒子也馬上要14歲了

Nelson is a member of the expert advisory group

Nelson是藥物專利聯盟

of the Medicines Patent Pool,

專家顧問團的一員

and he told me not so long ago,

不久前他曾告訴我

"Ellen, we rely in Kenya and in many other countries

“Ellen 在肯尼亞以及許多其他的國家

on the Medicines Patent Pool to make sure

我們全都依賴藥物專利聯盟

that new medicines also become available to us,

確保我們能夠獲得新藥

that new medicines, without delay, become available to us."

確保我們能夠及時地獲得新藥物”

And this is no longer fantasy.

這已經不再是空想

Already, I'll give you an example.

這已經是現實 我和大家分享一個實例

In August of this year, the United States drug agency

今年8月 美國藥品局

approved a new four-in-one AIDS medication.

批准了一個新的四合一愛滋病藥物

The company, Gilead, that holds the patents,

擁有該藥物專利權的Gilead公司

has licensed the intellectual property to the Medicines Patent Pool.

已經向藥物專利聯盟授權該專利的使用許可

The pool is already working today, two months later,

今天 僅僅兩個月後 聯盟已經在和通用製藥商合作

with generic manufacturers to make sure that this product

確保這個產品

can go to market at low cost

可以最低的成本 在需要的時刻地點

where and when it is needed. This is unprecedented.

投放市場 這是前所未有的

This has never been done before.

以前從未發生過

The rule is about a 10-year delay for a new product

在以前 一劑新藥面世後通常需要十年的時間

to go to market in developing countries, if at all.

才能投放發展中國家市場

This has never been seen before.

以前從未有過

Nelson's expectations are very high,

Nelson有非常高的期望

and quite rightly so. He and his son will need access

也是理所當然的 他和他的兒子這終其一生中都需要

to the next generation of antiretrovirals

下一代以及再下一代更新的

and the next, throughout their lifetime,

抗逆轉錄藥物

so that he and many others in Kenya and other countries

這樣他和許許多多生活在肯尼亞和其他國家的人們

can continue to live healthy, active lives.

才能夠健康積極地生活下去

Now we count on the willingness of drug companies

現在 我們依賴的是藥物公司的自願自發

to make that happen. We count on those companies

我們依賴的是這些藥物公司能夠明白

that understand that it is in the interest, not only in the interest

由對立轉向協作

of the global good, but also in their own interest,

這不僅僅是符合全球利益的

to move from conflict to collaboration,

也是符合他們自身利益的

and through the Medicines Patent Pool they can make that happen.

通過藥物專利聯盟 這一切都有可能實現

They can also choose not to do that,

當然他們也可以選擇不合作

but those that go down that road may end up

但是可能會落得

in a similar situation the Wright brothers ended up with

上世紀初萊特兄弟一樣的下場

early last century, facing forcible measures

政府將會採取強制措施

by government. So they'd better jump now.

所以 最好還是現在就行動

Thank you. (Applause)

謝謝（掌聲）