Technical Documents

Press Hits and Civil Society Statements

Actions in Ecuador

"There is, in our law, what is called compulsory licensing.  I, as President, can order that we issue a compulsory license for Brand X, so this medicine can be copied to make generics, and the people have access to this medicine, to health, to a cure for their illness.  And this is exactly what we are going to begin to do..."

"This is our vision of intellectual property.  It's not a mechanism to enrich the pharmaceutical or agrochemical companies.  It's a mechanism for development for the people." 

-- Rafael Correa Delgado, President of the Republic of Ecuador


NEW! Ecuador issues second license to expand access to HIV/AIDS treatments

See Public Citizen's full statement on Ecuador's compulsory license for abacavir+lamivudine.

En Español

On November 12, 2012, Ecuador issued a second license to promote cost-cutting generic competition for life-saving HIV/AIDS treatments. The government issued the license to Acromax, a firm based in Ecuador, to import and locally produce Glaxo's patented abacavir+lamivudine combination (ABC+3TC)a second-line treatment in Ecuador. This will enable the government to further expand access to more affordable treatments and is intended to facilitate local production of the product.

Ecuador has become a leader in the fight for access to affordable medicines. In 2009, President Correa declared access to priority medicines affecting the health of the Ecuadorean population to be a matter of public interest, effectively clearing the way for generic competition. The President declared: “compulsory licenses may be granted for patents on any human use medicine that may be necessary for treatment,” inaugurating a licensing protocol. President Correa spoke on live television for several minutes on the specific subject of compulsory licensing. In 2010, the country issued its first license for ritonavir, a component of the HIV/AIDS treatment Kaletra, cutting bid prices by about 27%.

See translated summary of the most recent compulsory licensing order in English




See the statement from Rene Ramirez, Ecuardor's Minister of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation for the global day of action on November 10, 2011.



Essential Action / Public Citizen documents

November 20, 2012-Public Citizen statement: Ecuador licenses a second life-saving HIV/AIDS treatment to local pharmaceutical firm
(En Español)
May 10, 2011-Leaked Cables Show U.S. Tried, Failed, to Organize against Ecuador Compulsory Licensing
May, 2010-Press Release: Unsupported claims in ECAT's submission to USTR on Ecuador, intellectual property and ATPA
April 22, 2010-Press Release: By Authorizing Generic Competition, Ecuador Cuts Cost of Key HIV/AIDS Drug
March 3, 2010- Press Release: Special 301 and Ecuador's TRIPS-Compliant Protocol on Access to Medicines and Compulsory Licensing
February, 2010-Updates and Information on Compulsory Licensing in Ecuador - Essential Action 2009-2010
February 16, 2010-Letter to USTR from Global Access to Medicines Director, Peter Maybarduk: USTR-2010-003 (2010 Special 301 Review: Identification of Countries under Section 182 of the Trade ACt of 1974
Essential Actions Corrections to Media Reports on Ecuador's Presidential Declaration on Compulsory Licensing
November, 2009-Essential Action's Clarifications concerning Ecuador's Declaration on Compulsory Licensing
October 26, 2009-Essential Action's Backgrounder on Ecuador's Presidential Declaration on Access to Medicines and Compulsory Licenses



Wikileaks cables

Read Wikileaks cables from U.S. Embassy personnel to the U.S. Department of State, showing the United States, multinational pharmaceutical companies, and three Ministers within the government shared information and worked to undermine Ecuador's compulsory licensing policy.



HIV/AIDS Treatment Coverage in Ecuador


      Number of patients receiving                               Percent of patients receiving ARV

        ARV treatment,  2008-2010                                treatments by line of regimen, 2010

 

 


        
Percent of patients receiving ARV treatments by type of treatment, 2010

       

Source: Organización Panamericana de la Salud, "Tratamiento antirretroviral bajo la lupa: un análisis de salud pública en Latinoamérica y el Caribe, Ecuador", 2012.



History of Compulsory Licensing in Ecuador

Read about the development of a compulsory licensing protocol in Ecuador

See timeline on Ecuador's compulsory licensing





 Return to the Kaletra Campaign Homepage


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