Pfizer Limited

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Life is our lifes work.
Intellectual Property Rights   An
Introduction   Patent protection has facilitated
the discovery of numerous cures and treatments
that have saved countless lives and helped to
extend life expectancy. Without effective patent
protection, many future cures may well go
undiscovered. Promoting Research and
Development   Patents give research-based
pharmaceutical companies an exclusive right, for
a limited period of time, to market a particular
medicine. They do not confer a monopoly right
over an entire therapeutic class. In almost all
therapeutic categories, patented medicines
represent only a small share of available
therapies. The holder of a twenty-year patent
right actually has just five to ten years of
market exclusivity for its product because of the
lengthy development and approval process.   The
patent system helps to ensure price competition
and medical choice by encouraging the development
of new and innovative treatment options, as well
as improving current treatment regimes. Patented
medicines almost always face competition from
other medicines (both patented and unpatented)
within their therapeutic areas. Patent
protection actually encourages competition by
providing incentives for the discovery of
additional innovative medicines.   While an
inventor invests considerable time and resources
in research and development, an imitator takes
few, if any, risks in having its copycat version
approved. Furthermore, imitators generally
contribute no new clinical information or patient
education. Most importantly they do not engage
in innovative research and development to meet
the global need for additional new
medicines   Intellectual property rights are an
essential precondition to sustained investment in
research and development.   The Developing
World   Pfizer supports new world trade rules
that would help get medicines to people in the
poorest nations. Developing nations without
manufacturing capacity should be able to import
medicines for humanitarian use in battling major
public health threats. While HIV/AIDS, Malaria
and Tuberculosis are clearly the most significant
threats to public health in the worlds least
developed nations, Pfizer supports expanding the
DOHA Ministerial Declaration on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
and Public Health to cover public, non-commercial
use of medicines for all public health
emergencies.
IP - 0903
Pfizer Limited Walton Oaks Dorking Road
Walton-on-the-Hill Surrey. KT20 7NS
www.pfizer.co.uk policyuk_at_pfizer.com Tel 01737
330478 Fax [phone]
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