“Biogen-Idec have been given patent protection for BG12 until 2028. Patents are the bread and butter of the pharma industry; they allow Pharma to make money and re-invest in new drugs. Without patents innovation would grind to a halt. The other side of the coin is the fact that they expire and once they expire society gets cheaper drugs. You may love or hate this system depending on which side of the fence you sit; but at the moment it is the only show in town.”
Reuters: Biogen receives patent until 2028 for Multiple Sclerosis drug Tecfidera
Boston.com: US Patent Office grants Biogen Idec broad protection for multiple sclerosis pill
“The problem we have is developing MS drugs outside the patent system. How do we repuprose off-patent drugs? How do we get the necessary resources in place to do the clinical trials and get off-patent drugs licensed for MSers? This is a big problem for MS and other disease areas. This is why we have tentatively launched the Big Pharma Alternative or BPA; I need to spend time on this that I don’t have at present. Anyone out there who would like to help with this? Thanks.”
What kind of help do you need, how many people?
I'll let Prof G answer this but To my mind the reality needs a President Obama or Prime Minster David Cameron or other connected politicians, because this is a political issue that needs a political solution as it needs regulation to be changed to incentivise pharma to put up the money to get these drugs to MSers. Of course this is bigger than MS. It can be applied to all conditions, cancer diabetes etc etc etc so it is important to address this issue.Therefore, if there are any MPs from the UK reading this please, please, please get in touch and lets get a private members bill or something to get this debated in the House and get a solution. If you can get Foxhunting on the agenda surely getting drugs to people that need them is an even easier no brainer.
I know you're already aware of this and may already be working in this way, but what about contacting charities with a broader reach than just MS charities, which have advocacy and campaigning departments? They usually have contact with MPs. (from Anon as above)
I also think you need a better name. BPA brings to mind the toxic plastic stuff that baby's bottles were made of. Little Pharma maybe?! Can you canvas your regular readers for some suggestions. I appreciate you need it to be taken seriously, but politicians take much more notice when the public (usually through the press) take notice. And for them to take notice, it has to be 'sexy'.