As we have been reporting, on October 2nd the Ministry of Health (MoH) issued Resolution 1579, declaring the existence of reasons of public interest for the issuance of a Compulsory License (CL) on a patent covering Dolutegravir API, which is used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Consequently, and in the same act, the MoH requested the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office (CPTO) to establish the terms of the first CL in Colombia. However, as expected, the patent holders, AFIDRO, and other interested parties, filed three reconsideration actions against this resolution, primarily arguing the lack of public interest reasons for a CL.
In this regard, last 13th of December, the MoH posted three resolutions denying the mentioned motions and upholding the CL on Dolutegravir, stating that: i) Dolutegravir is the preferred treatment for HIV/AIDS; ii) there is a need to manage HIV/AIDS within the migrant population in Colombia; iii) there is limited availability of Dolutegravir; iv) despite purported negotiation efforts, in cases of CL for government use, the government is not obligated to seek a voluntary license from the patent holder, among other reasons. Therefore, we will await the CPTO’s determination of the terms of the first CL in Colombia.
