In 2006, I-MAK began working to increase access to treatment for HIV in India. From there, the organization’s legal work and research has expanded to 49 countries and 33 therapies for 16 diseases, including hepatitis C, HIV, leukemia, tuberculosis, diabetes, cancer, and blood-related disorders. Worldwide, for HIV treatments alone, I-MAK has helped government health programs save more than $2 billion.
Reduced prices for HIV drugs in India, catalyzing savings worldwide
As a result of I-MAK’s successful patent challenges on four HIV drugs in India, prices for these lifesaving generic medicines are now 51-87% lower than the branded versions. These wins supplied low and middle income countries worldwide with low-cost generics, saving an estimated $500 million – money that could be reinvested to treat more than one million people.
Public health programs save half a billion dollars per year in four countries
I-MAK worked alongside five patient advocacy organizations to reduce drug prices in Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, and Ukraine.* Patent challenges, drug pricing negotiations, and policy dialogues between the public and private sectors on 15 HIV drugs in these four countries have contributed to price reductions in four countries, which are saving health programs an estimated $472 million each year.
ADDRESSING THE ROOT CAUSE
In recent years, I-MAK has focused on upstream solutions by concentrating efforts on the root cause of high drug prices: patent abuse by pharmaceutical companies, especially in the United States. This work includes releasing its groundbreaking reports such as Overpatened, Overpriced and The Burden of Patent Thickets. Additionally, I-MAK has provided complete transparency by publishing its peer-reviewed data and methodologies in the Drug Patent Book.