Patents deal may benefit few

Last week¹s deal allowing developing countries to make generic versions of antiretrovirals may, in reality do little to increase their availability, as the countries which need them most lack the infrastructure to manufacture them, according to a report by the New York Times.

Although the agreement reached at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) states that patents should be interpreted "to promote access to medicines for all" it does not explicitly allow developing countries to buy cheaper versions of anti-HIV drugs from countries such as India or Brazil which are manufacturing them.

The WTO negotiators were aware of this glitch when they reached their deal and have promised further negotiations in 2002 to find a solution for countries "with insufficient or no manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector."

Manufacturers of generic HIV drugs in India have reacted coolly to the WTO deal, calling it a step in the right direction but point out that it does not allow them to export to countries most in need. Drug companies are expected to put up a stiff resistance to any deal which allows the export of cheap generics in order to protect their interests in the emerging pharmaceutical markets in the developing world.

The deal also leaves a more fundamental question unanswered: how the countries hit hardest by HIV, which are amongst the world¹s poorest, will be able to find the cash to provide even the cheapest generic drugs.