Tue, 23 July 1996 

    The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India has filed
a reexamination request with the US Patent and Trademark Office, asking them
to revoke a patent issued to the University of Mississippi.  The patent,
5,401,504, claims the use of turmeric for promoting wound healing.  The
Indian government is arguing that turmeric is a well known traditional
medicine used in India, and even written about by Indian researchers as far
back as the 1950s.  Basic patent info is at the end.

    The request is seen as a test case for challenging other patents based on
traditional-plant based medicines, which developing countries argue shouldn't
be patented.  This can be a double-edged sword, as it could discourage drug
companies from developing more important plant-based drugs.  A crucial case
in point is that of malaria.  About 2.7 million African people die each year
due to malaria, and global health experts are getting worried that the
figure could rise to 7 million deaths a year in Africa and Asia.  This is
because the malaria parasite is becoming resistant to quinine when used to
fight cerebral malaria.

    There is however a plant based drug, artemether, derived from the shrub
wormwood, which has been shown to be as effective as quinine.  Unfortunately
it's current cost is twice as much as for quinine, which in Africa and Asia
makes it too costly for many people to buy.  Yet drug companies are reluctant
to invest much because the use of artemether has already been described in
the scientific literature.  The current hopes are that drugs related to
artemether can be found that could be patented, yet sold at a more reasonable
price.

    These issues of drug rights, profit levels and developing country needs
will continue to be thrashed out in public and the courts.


Greg Aharonian
Internet Patent News Service
P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA, 02178
617-489-3727,  patents@world.std.com
(for info on free subscription, send 'help' to   patents@world.std.com )

Patent      5,401,504
Title       Use of turmeric in wound healing 
Assignee    University of Mississippi Medical Center (Jackson, MS).
Filed       Dec. 28, 1993
Abstract
   Method of promoting healing of a wound by administering turmeric to a
   patient afflicted with the wound.
                           6 Claims, No Drawings 

Intl. Cl.   A61K 35/78
U.S.  Cl.   424/195.1; 514/925; 514/926; 514/927; 514/928

U.S. Patent Documents
   4,719,111    Jan. 1988    Wilson 424/195.1
   5,120,538    Jun. 1992    Oei    424/195.1
   5,252,344    Oct. 1993    Shi    424/682

Other References
       Institute GA. 99: 218620T (1983) of JPN. 58-162520 (Ulcer
       Inhibitor Tablets Effective in Mice Contain Carcinogen).
       Soma et al GA. 116: 221612S (1992) of JPN 4-49240 (Digestive Tract
       Ulcers Treated with Curcuma longa (Turmeric) Extract
       (Lipopolysaccharides)).
       Kumar et al GA.119: 871K (1993) of Ind. Vet. J. 70(1):42-4 (1993).
       Abstracts of Charles et al Trop. Geogr. Med: 44(1-2) 178-181 Jan.
       1992; Rafatullah et al J. Ethnopharmacol. 29(1): 25-34 Apr. 1990;
       Kutton et al Tumori 73(1): 29-31 Feb. 28, 1987; Mehra et al. Tokai
       J Etpharm Med 9(1): 27-31 Mar. 1984.