Under the agreement, announced March 31 by President Ronald Reagan and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and France's Pasteur Institute will share the patent for blood test kits and each will donate 80 percent of the royalties to the foundation. Private funds will also be solicited to sponsor grants for AIDS research and education. At least 25 percent of the money will be earmarked for efforts in developing countries.
The market for diagnostic kits in the United States alone is roughly $50 million a year, said Jeffrey Swarz, a drug industry analyst at Goldman, Sachs and Co. "We predict it will reach $200 to $250 million by 1992, and that means a continuous rise in royalties for the foundation," he added. Patent royalties now go to the U.S. Treasury.
The U.S. government estimates that worldwide royalties will total $5 million in 1987, ...
