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19 September 2016Patents

IP Week @ SG 2016: Takeda talks access to medicine

“One of the most important concerns for the pharmaceutical industry is the challenge of protecting the IP of drugs globally,” says Yoichi Okumura, global head of IP for Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda, in an interview with WIPR.

The challenge of protecting the IP of drugs globally comes in various forms. Many nations impose long registration processes for new drugs, delaying the overall delivery time. In most developing countries, research and development-oriented drug companies have struggled with insufficient or lack of patent linkage and data protection systems. In addition, drug approval processes and government drug pricing systems are somehow unclear in these countries.

Takeda, which owns more than 10,000 patents, also recognises the challenges in the pharmaceutical industry concerning access to medicine, according to Okumura.

“Although I do not say that IP is irrelevant to the access to medicine problem, IP is not a core cause of the problem.”

He adds: “The solution to the problem requires a holistic approach, ie, a practical supply chain service, medical infrastructures and human resources, education for local people, and so on.

“In other words, the lack of infrastructure and government funding needed to physically store medications and deliver healthcare (especially in rural areas), and severe shortage of medical staff, are some of the basic issues in developing countries.”

“The lack of infrastructure and government funding needed to physically store medications and deliver healthcare (especially in rural areas), and severe shortage of medical staff, are some of the basic issues in developing countries.”

“More than 90% of the drugs listed on the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines List are off-patent and provided at an affordable price. However, people in nations with poor infrastructure still do not have access to these drugs.”

Okumura explains that these challenges cannot be solved by the pharmaceutical industry alone.

“A more robust and broader range of stakeholders including governments should be involved,” he says.

In order to contribute to the improvement of access to medicine, Takeda has joined some projects such as WIPO Re:Search, a joint initiative of the World Intellectual Property Organization, BIO Ventures for Global Health, and the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, and in addition it cooperates with various stakeholders.

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