U.K. to provide developing country-related incentives

The U.K. announced new international programs as well as domestic tax incentives Monday that are intended to increase investment in therapies for diseases that primarily affect developing countries. Speaking in London at an international conference on eliminating child poverty, British Chancellor Gordon Brown announced the creation of new tax incentives for R&D targeted at drugs and vaccines for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Brown announced that he is "prepared to match that tax credit for research done in the United Kingdom with a tax credit for research done elsewhere. But such a proposal must be met by a corporate commitment to create new drugs and vaccines in ways that truly meet the needs of the poor and sick." Brown also said the government's budget will include provisions that "remove constraints in the tax system on donations of drugs and vaccines -- linked to increased commitments from the industry to make donations on a more consistent basis, in support of developing countries' own health strategies." He added: "If the pharmaceutical companies were prepared to increase the availability of treatments on a pro bono basis -- treatments that are genuinely needed -- we would be prepared to match that commitment by considering it as a tax deduction." ...