After months of deliberation, the Colombian government has issued a compulsory license for an HIV medicine, the first time the country has taken such a step, one that also marks a significant move in the increasingly global battle over access to medicines.
The license is designed so that tens of thousands of Colombians can obtain a lower-cost version of dolutegravir, a medicine that is manufactured and sold by ViiV Healthcare, a company that specializes in HIV treatments and is largely controlled by GSK. Dolutegravir is recommended by the World Health Organization as part of the preferred first-line treatment regimen for people living with HIV.
A compulsory license allows a country to grant a license to a public agency or a generic drugmaker to copy a patented medicine without the consent of the brand-name company that owns the patent. The right to take this step, which can be used to lower the cost of a prescription medicine, was memorialized in a World Trade Organization agreement. (Here is a primer.)
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