Tell Johnson & Johnson to Stop Turning its Back on AIDS Patients

Tell Johnson & Johnson to Stop Turning its Back on AIDS Patients

The Issue

On Monday, December 19, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is expected to announce whether it intends to license its patents on three lifesaving HIV/AIDS drugs to the Medicines Patent Pool, a mechanism designed to lower prices of HIV medicines and increase access to them for people in the developing world.

Over the past two years, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been urging Johnson & Johnson to take this critical step.

Johnson & Johnson has so far refused to join discussions on licensing these patents to the Medicines Patent Pool. The Pool has been set up to increase access to more affordable versions of HIV drugs, including fixed-dose combinations that include multiple medicines in one pill, and to develop much-needed pediatric HIV drugs.

The Pool would license patents on HIV drugs to other manufacturers and the resulting competition would dramatically reduce prices, making them much more affordable in the developing world. However, since the Pool is voluntary it will only work if patent holders like Johnson & Johnson choose to participate.

ACT NOW: Call on Johnson & Johnson to finally join the Medicines Patent Pool

avatar of the starter
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USAPetition StarterAt <a href="http://Change.org" rel="nofollow">Change.org</a> I am Senior Director of Client Services. Before joining the team at <a href="http://Change.org" rel="nofollow">Change.org</a>, I worked as Senior Campaigner at Care2 and for two years I worked as Senior Consultant at M+R Strategic Services. My foray into online organizing began in 2004, when I co-founded Equality Ohio, an LGBT rights organization and a member organization of the national Equality Federation. In my spare time I tend a small flock of chickens in my Oakland backyard.
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This petition had 24,197 supporters

The Issue

On Monday, December 19, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is expected to announce whether it intends to license its patents on three lifesaving HIV/AIDS drugs to the Medicines Patent Pool, a mechanism designed to lower prices of HIV medicines and increase access to them for people in the developing world.

Over the past two years, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been urging Johnson & Johnson to take this critical step.

Johnson & Johnson has so far refused to join discussions on licensing these patents to the Medicines Patent Pool. The Pool has been set up to increase access to more affordable versions of HIV drugs, including fixed-dose combinations that include multiple medicines in one pill, and to develop much-needed pediatric HIV drugs.

The Pool would license patents on HIV drugs to other manufacturers and the resulting competition would dramatically reduce prices, making them much more affordable in the developing world. However, since the Pool is voluntary it will only work if patent holders like Johnson & Johnson choose to participate.

ACT NOW: Call on Johnson & Johnson to finally join the Medicines Patent Pool

avatar of the starter
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USAPetition StarterAt <a href="http://Change.org" rel="nofollow">Change.org</a> I am Senior Director of Client Services. Before joining the team at <a href="http://Change.org" rel="nofollow">Change.org</a>, I worked as Senior Campaigner at Care2 and for two years I worked as Senior Consultant at M+R Strategic Services. My foray into online organizing began in 2004, when I co-founded Equality Ohio, an LGBT rights organization and a member organization of the national Equality Federation. In my spare time I tend a small flock of chickens in my Oakland backyard.
Media inquiries

The Decision Makers

Mr. William C. Weldon
Mr. William C. Weldon
CEO & Chairman of the Board, Johnson & Johnson

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Petition created on December 15, 2011