An Alternative to Pharmaceutical Patents Christian Engström Vice Chairman, The Swedish Pirate Party

2 Pharmaceutical Patents Kill  Third world countries are prevented from manufacturing medicines they could afford  Costs for medicines are increasing in the rich world, and nobody has control  Research priorities get skewed - “me too” drugs instead of life saving new drugs

3 Paying for Drug Research  Who would pay for the R&D without patents?

4 Paying for Drug Research  Who pays for the R&D today?

5 Pharma Industry Figures “The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures 2006” by EFPIA, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations

6 Pharmaceutical Reimbursement The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures 2006, page 37

7 The Government Pays Today Individual patients 17% Governments 83% (Compulsory Health Insurance)

8 What Are The Costs?  Manufacturing the actual substances  Research & Development

9 Manufacturing - Generic Drugs  Patent free, no R&D costs  Generic drugs are cheap: 70-90% reduction  Swedish FDA reported 70% in a study

10 Generic Drugs Are Cheap  30% of today's cost is a conservative estimate that includes:  Manufacturing  Distribution  Administration  Marketing  Profit

11 What Are The Costs? Manufacturing etc.

12 How Much Is Spent on R&D ?  Specified in the annual reports:  Pfizer 2006: 15.7%  Novartis 2006: 14.8%  AstraZeneca 2006: 14.7%  Industry as a whole: 15%

13 What Are The Costs? Manufacturing etc. R&D

14 What Are The Costs? Manufacturing etc. R&D Patent monopoly cost

15 Without Patents We Could  Cut the government's pharma bill by 50%  Allow developing nations free access  Save money and save lives