[Ip-health] Bloomberg: Merck to give Brazil voluntary license for Stocrin

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=anv51yXhZdtk&refer=latin_america

Merck to Allow Brazil to Copy AIDS Drug Stocrim, Valor Says

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co., the second-biggest U.S. drugmaker,
plans to allow Brazil to make the AIDS drug Stocrim after the government
threatened to make a low-cost copy of the remedy on its own, Valor
Economico reported.

Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck is negotiating a license to
produce Stocrim with government-run drugmakers, the newspaper said,
citing the company president in Brazil, Jose Alves. The price of Stocrim
is capped at $1.75 per tablet in Brazil, 86 percent cheaper than in the
U.S., making it unprofitable for Merck to manufacture and sell, the news
paper said. Alves didn't return a call seeking comment.

Merck accelerated talks after Pedro Chequer, who runs Brazil's AIDS
treatment program, this week said the government would break the patent
for five imported drugs that are distributed to all victims of the
disease, the newspaper said. An agreement is expected in March.

In 2001, Merck said it would file suit after the Brazilian government
imported the raw materials to make Stocrim from India, the newspaper
said. Merck has a patent for Stocrim until 2012.