Asilfa Of Chile Calls For IP Law Revision

Asilfa, the Chilean pharmaceutical industry association representing national companies, is calling for a revision of Chile's intellectual property law as a result of ambiguities surrounding process patents.

Asilfa decided to lobby for a revision following injunctions against two Chilean companies, Tecnofarma and Andromaco - both members of Asilfa, concerning alleged infringement by them of Pfizer's process patent covering the antifungal fluconazole, which it markets as Diflucan (Marketletters passim). A spokesperson at Pfizer was reluctant to discuss the matter but told the Marketletter that "the preliminary injunction is still in effect, and a lawsuit is pending."

In April this year, the Senate constitution, legislation and justice committee declared that a bill put forward last year recommending modifications to the patent legislation passed in 1991 (Marketletters passim) is constitutional. A report on the bill from the economics committee is awaited before the legislation can progress to a vote.