Licença compulsória do efavirenz no Brasil em 2007: contextualização / Compulsory licensing of efavirenz in Brazil in 2007: contextualization

The present article aims at contextualizing the first Brazilian experience with compulsory licensing, which functions as a defense mechanism to prevent excessive pricing by holders of patents. According to this mechanism, a government can authorize a third party to explore the patented object (in this case a drug) without previous consent from the patent holder. On May 4, 2007, Brazil officially issued compulsory licensing of the antiretroviral drug efavirenz for public, non-commercial use. Initially, generic versions of the drug were purchased from laboratories in India. The next step was the manufacture of efavirenz by Farmanguinhos, official pharmaceutical laboratory (Fundação Osvaldo Cruz). It is concluded that the decision made by the Brazilian government to issue compulsory licensing of efavirenz nwas correct, taking into account the projected savings of US$ 236.8 until 2012 and the guarantee of availability of efavirenz, the most usual free antiretroviral treatment provided in Brazil.

[Compulsory licensing of efavirenz in Brazil in 2007: contextualization]. / Licença compulsória do efavirenz no Brasil em 2007: contextualização.

The present article aims at contextualizing the first Brazilian experience with compulsory licensing, which functions as a defense mechanism to prevent excessive pricing by holders of patents. According to this mechanism, a government can authorize a third party to explore the patented object (in this case a drug) without previous consent from the patent holder. On May 4, 2007, Brazil officially issued compulsory licensing of the antiretroviral drug efavirenz for public, non-commercial use. Initially, generic versions of the drug were purchased from laboratories in India. The next step was the manufacture of efavirenz by Farmanguinhos, official pharmaceutical laboratory (Fundação Osvaldo Cruz). It is concluded that the decision made by the Brazilian government to issue compulsory licensing of efavirenz was correct, taking into account the projected savings of US$ 236.8 until 2012 and the guarantee of availability of efavirenz, the most usual free antiretroviral treatment provided in Brazil.

Distribuição de insetos fitófagos (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha) em plantas cítricas no estado do Rio de Janeiro / Distribution of phytophagous insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha) in citrus orchards located in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

A citricultura fluminense vem sofrendo com os problemas fitossanitários, levando a baixa produção. Esse problema está ligado ao baixo conhecimento das espécies de insetos associado ao citros. O objetivo do trabalho foi estudar a distribuição geográfica das espécies de insetos fitófagos associados aos citros em 17 municípios do estado do Rio de Janeiro, de janeiro de 2000 a junho de 2001 em quatro regiões: Baixada Fluminense, Região Serrana, Região das Baixadas Litorâneas (região citrícola) e Região Noroeste do estado. As amostragens foram realizadas em um pomar por município, através da metodologia presença-ausência. Em três municípios foi verificada a ocorrência das 11 espécies e em outros três municípios observou-se menor número de espécies, apenas seis. As espécies com maior distribuição geográfica foram: Aleurothrixus floccosus (Maskell) e Selenaspidus articulatus (Morgan), ocorrendo em 16 municípios. As duas espécies com menor distribuição foram Lepidosaphis beckii (Newman) e Toxoptera citricida (Kirkaldy), presentes em sete e 10 municípios respectivamente.

The phytosanitary problems leading to lower citrus production in the state of Rio de Janeiro are due to the insufficient knowledge on insect species affecting citrus orchards. The objective of this research was to study the geographic distribution of phytophagous insect species, associated with citrus production, in 17 municipalities of Rio de Janeiro, from January 2000 to June 2001. The municipalities are located in four regions: Baixada Fluminense (the lowland region), Região Serrana (the mountain region), Região das Baixadas Litorâneas (the citrus producing marshland region) and Região Noroeste (the Northern region). Samples were collected from one orchard in each municipality by means of the presence or absence methodology. Eleven species were found in three municipalities and six species were found in three others. The species Aleurothrixus floccosus (Maskell) and Selenaspidus articulatus (Morgan) were found in 16 municipalities. Lepidosaphis beckii (Newman) and Toxoptera citricida (Kirkaldy) were found in only seven and 10 municipalities, respectively.