Price reduction of monopoly medicine in the Unified Health System: the case of Tenofovir

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the evolution of the price of tenofovir (TDF) in Brazil considering the different initiatives for its reduction. The selection criteria for the case were: to have been subject to at least one strategy to overcome patent barrier, which in the case was the support to examination of the patent application (patent opposition); and have been subject of a local production Partnership for Productive Development (PDP). The main results suggest that patent opposition presented in 2005 and 2006 contributed to the decision to reject the patent application in 2009. Brazil is estimated to have paid around US$ 200 million more for the monopoly due to the patent pending application period. There was a reduction in the price of TDF between 2003 and 2013, including during the PDP (2011 to 2013). In 2010, after the PDP announcement, there was an additional 40% decrease in the price of the TDF offered by Gilead, which reflected in the price offered by the PDP. However, the price paid in Brazil for the national product was about ten times higher than the generic offered internationally.

Keywords:
drug price; HIV/AIDS; patents; generic medicines