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Increasing access to medicines 163
about 10 years because of the time it takes to develop, test
and comply with regulatory requirements (IFPMA, 2004).
That means a total of 300 million courses of treatment
while the drug is under patent.
Assuming a discount rate of 15 per cent, each course of
therapy needs to yield a margin of only 62 cents in order for
the developer to break even on sales. The average cost of
production for a course of Artemisinin Combination Therapy
treatment is currently estimated at US $2.40. 28 Assuming
that a new drug would cost a similar amount, the total cost
of one course of treatment need be only around US $3.50
for the developer of the drug to cover the cost of
development, production and marketing – and even make a
profit (albeit a relatively small amount). At such a price, a
new, patented malaria therapy would be competitive in the
market and might plausibly sell the necessary 30 million
courses per year.
If it were possible effectively to patent a new malaria
drug in relevant markets, it seems plausible that there would
exist a private sector company which could produce a costeffective
and efficacious new malaria treatment.
Sadly, however, the barriers to innovation and access
described in this chapter mean that the discovery and
development of drugs for the diseases of poverty is currently
not financially viable for private sector firms, except as part
of their philanthropic efforts.
Inappropriate levels of intellectual property protection
in developed countries
From the above, it is clear that intellectual property protection in
most lower-income countries is almost certainly too weak, with the
result that the level of for-profit development of medicines for the
diseases endemic to those countries is too low.