Lawsuit Challenges Patent on AZT

A lawsuit prepared by Public Citizen, a nonprofit public interest group founded by Ralph Nader, has challenged Burroughs Wellcome's 1988 patent on AZT (brand name Retrovir). The lawsuit claims that the patent is invalid because "the company did not conceive, develop or demonstrate the utility of the drug, nor did it name all of the inventors in its patent application," according to a March 19 press release from Public Citizen. "This lawsuit will establish the public's right to a fair price, and it gives the government a vehicle to challenge Burroughs Wellcome's monopoly." Plaintiffs include the PWA Health Group in New York, and two individuals in Washington, D. C., who are using AZT.

Burroughs Wellcome's press release of the same date claimed that its scientists "were the first to conceive the use of the chemical AZT for the treatment of HIV infection in humans" -- the basis of the company's use patent, and that challenging the patent now, "more than five years after its filing...could have a chilling effect on innovation in the United States and could discourage future AIDS research." The press release also states that the company has supported "in whole or in part, more than 90 Retrovir-related clinical trials involving some 10,000 patients worldwide," and that the current price of approximately $2,200 per year for the dose of 500 mg per day "represents a 70 percent reduction in cost of therapy as a result of price decreases and reduced dosage since the drug was first marketed in 1987."