Home » Opinion » Foreign Views
Protecting medical IP rights can save lives
By John Lechleiter, Masafumi Nogimori and Stefan Oschmann |
November 8, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
OVER the past century, medical innovation has transformed the human experience by curing disease, diminishing suffering, and extending life spans.
We have vanquished scourges like polio, vaccinated to prevent measles, mumps, rubella and other ailments, increased cancer survival rates, and turned HIV/AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.
Efforts to improve global health are having a tangible impact on future generations. For example, immunizations provided to nearly 300 million children in 72 developing countries have saved over five million lives.
Yet, some of our greatest challenges lie ahead. We're seeing the rise of superbugs resistant to current antibiotics. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) continue to hobble emerging economies.
And cancer, diabetes, respiratory and neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a growing burden on rich and poor countries alike.
Non-communicable diseases now account for 60 percent of all premature deaths around the world and it's estimated that by 2030, over 80 percent of premature deaths will be in low- and middle-income countries.
Making inroads against these problems requires an unprecedented degree of global cooperation.
It also demands that we expand our arsenal of medical treatments and cures through ongoing innovation.
Solving these global health problems starts with a shared commitment to improving lives. The expertise and contributions of the global health community - nurses, doctors, governments, foundations, NGOs, academic institutions, and industry - have increased access to quality care and medicines, reaching the farthest corners of the world with life-saving treatment and care.
Enormous challenges
Even with these efforts, fighting disease in developing countries continues to pose enormous challenges.
Even when effective treatments exist, infrastructure to deliver and administer them is often lacking.
Malaria is a prime example.
Over the past decade, public-private partnerships have revolutionized both therapies for this disease and ways to provide access to them. Yet, thousands of young children in sub-Saharan Africa continue to die from malaria each day, because they cannot obtain the treatment they need in time.
For many other diseases, we desperately need treatment breakthroughs.
The good news is that industry scientists are currently developing more than 3,000 compounds to treat a range of debilitating diseases, with 1,500 targeting the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.
Advances in science and technology are providing drug hunters with new tools and approaches for this important work. These have led to development of biotherapeutics, "personalized" medicines, and breakthrough vaccines to prevent diseases in the first place.
None of this is possible though without policies such as intellectual property (IP) protection, which is the lifeblood of any enterprise generating value from ideas. On average, it takes nearly 14 years and one billion euros (US$1.2 billion) to bring a new medicine from the drawing board to the pharmacy.
Without the ability to protect one's intellectual property, medical innovation would not be sustainable.
Another key step would be to standardize best practices from national regulatory systems so that medicines can get to patients who need them more quickly and less expensively.
Dr John Lechleiter, IFPMA president. Masafumi Nogimori, IFPMA vice president. Dr Stefan Oschmann, IFPMA vice president. Based in Geneva, IFPMA has official relations with the United Nations and contributes industry expertise to help improve global health.Shanghai Daily condensed the article.
We have vanquished scourges like polio, vaccinated to prevent measles, mumps, rubella and other ailments, increased cancer survival rates, and turned HIV/AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.
Efforts to improve global health are having a tangible impact on future generations. For example, immunizations provided to nearly 300 million children in 72 developing countries have saved over five million lives.
Yet, some of our greatest challenges lie ahead. We're seeing the rise of superbugs resistant to current antibiotics. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) continue to hobble emerging economies.
And cancer, diabetes, respiratory and neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a growing burden on rich and poor countries alike.
Non-communicable diseases now account for 60 percent of all premature deaths around the world and it's estimated that by 2030, over 80 percent of premature deaths will be in low- and middle-income countries.
Making inroads against these problems requires an unprecedented degree of global cooperation.
It also demands that we expand our arsenal of medical treatments and cures through ongoing innovation.
Solving these global health problems starts with a shared commitment to improving lives. The expertise and contributions of the global health community - nurses, doctors, governments, foundations, NGOs, academic institutions, and industry - have increased access to quality care and medicines, reaching the farthest corners of the world with life-saving treatment and care.
Enormous challenges
Even with these efforts, fighting disease in developing countries continues to pose enormous challenges.
Even when effective treatments exist, infrastructure to deliver and administer them is often lacking.
Malaria is a prime example.
Over the past decade, public-private partnerships have revolutionized both therapies for this disease and ways to provide access to them. Yet, thousands of young children in sub-Saharan Africa continue to die from malaria each day, because they cannot obtain the treatment they need in time.
For many other diseases, we desperately need treatment breakthroughs.
The good news is that industry scientists are currently developing more than 3,000 compounds to treat a range of debilitating diseases, with 1,500 targeting the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.
Advances in science and technology are providing drug hunters with new tools and approaches for this important work. These have led to development of biotherapeutics, "personalized" medicines, and breakthrough vaccines to prevent diseases in the first place.
None of this is possible though without policies such as intellectual property (IP) protection, which is the lifeblood of any enterprise generating value from ideas. On average, it takes nearly 14 years and one billion euros (US$1.2 billion) to bring a new medicine from the drawing board to the pharmacy.
Without the ability to protect one's intellectual property, medical innovation would not be sustainable.
Another key step would be to standardize best practices from national regulatory systems so that medicines can get to patients who need them more quickly and less expensively.
Dr John Lechleiter, IFPMA president. Masafumi Nogimori, IFPMA vice president. Dr Stefan Oschmann, IFPMA vice president. Based in Geneva, IFPMA has official relations with the United Nations and contributes industry expertise to help improve global health.Shanghai Daily condensed the article.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
