Wellcome seeks a U.S. patent on an AIDS drug.

The British pharmaceutical firm Wellcome PLC said it had applied for a U.S. patent on a compound, DDC, that it says has potential as a treatment for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Wellcome already produces AZT, also known as Retrovir, which slows the development of the disease. Wellcome said it was unproven whether DDC would work but said it was possible that a form of treatment could come from mixing it with AZT. A report in the Financial Times newspaper said the U.S. Department of Commerce had applied for a patent on DDC ahead of Wellcome and that “if Wellcome were to wrest control of DDC from the U.S. government, it would have a monopoly of AIDS treatments.” Wellcome denied that it was seeking a monopoly.