[Ip-health] Merck to cut Aids drug price in Thailand

[Ellen T HOEN]

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Merck to cut Aids drug price in Thailand=0D
By Amy Kazmin in Bangkok and Andrew Jack in London=0D
Financial Times=0D
Updated: 12:10 a.m. ET Dec. 1, 2006=0D
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Merck, the US pharmaceuticals group, will offer to cut the price of a key=
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anti-HIV drug in Thailand in an attempt to stop the government overriding=
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its patents and using cheaper generic suppliers.=0D
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A spokesman for MSD Thailand, Merck's local subsidiary, said the company=0D
would seek talks with health officials to propose discounts or a=0D
"voluntary" licence to the Thai government pharmaceuticals organisation to=
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produce generic versions of its medicine Efavirenz.=0D
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The move follows the surprise decision by the Thai authorities this week to=
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threaten a "compulsory licence" for Efavirenz to overturn Merck's patents,=
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raising fears by western pharmaceutical companies of a significant=0D
challenge to their intellectual property.=0D
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The news was welcomed by health groups, which have long urged developing=0D
countries to challenge patents. They say tougher rules are making it harder=
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for generic companies to launch copycat drugs to keep treatment costs low=
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for a growing number of Aids patients.=0D
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A number of countries have already issued compulsory licences to overturn=
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patents in accordance with World Trade Organisation rules, but none is of=
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the importance of Thailand, a middle-income country with a domestic=0D
pharmaceutical industry. The Thai government said it would first import and=
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then produce its own generic equivalent of Efavirenz to reduce costs and=0D
increase the number of Thais receiving the medication from 20,000, the=0D
current figure, to 100,000.=0D
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The move strengthens its position in negotiations with other=0D
pharmaceuticals companies such as Abbott over the price of other patented=
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drugs, as Bangkok seeks to fulfil a pledge to provide anti-retroviral drugs=
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for all citizens who require them.=0D
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Merck executives said they received no prior warning that Bangkok had been=
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considering such a step, and denied there had been problems with supplies=
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of Efavirenz, as activists claimed.=0D
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"There has been no process in terms of Thai law or international law, where=
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the company has been consulted or where the company has been asked what=0D
they could do to assist," a company spokesman said.=0D
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It had supplied Efavirenz at "no profit" price in Thailand since 2001, and=
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further shaved the price by 20 per cent in March this year.=0D
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About 84,000 of the 600,000 Thais living with Aids receive life-saving=0D
medications from the government, mostly a single-dose pill called GPO-vir,=
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a relatively inexpensive combination of three off-patent drugs.=0D
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Some 20,000 people, mostly those whom are intolerant to one of the=0D
components of GPO-vir, are taking an alternative combination of three=0D
drugs, one of which is Efavirenz. Critics say the poor quality of the GPO=
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drug has triggered resistance.=0D
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Merck could offer a further discount on Efavirenz by removing the premium=
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it charges to the government over non-governmental medical groups, which=0D
was the result of the authorities' refusal to meet usual terms, including=
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60 days for =C2=ADpayment.=0D
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=E2=96=A0Soluble HIV medicines for children will be available for as little=
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current costs, under a plan unveiled on Thursday by Bill Clinton, the=0D
former US president. The scheme, conceived in conjunction with two Indian=
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generic manufacturers and Unitaid, the French-led drugs purchasing agency,=
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foresees an average cost of $60 (=E2=82=AC45, =C2=A330) a year per child.=
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=C2=A9 The Financial Times Ltd 2006. "FT" and "Financial Times" are tradema=
rks=0D
of the Financial Times.Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights=0D
reserved.=0D
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URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15973917/=0D
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______________________________________=0D
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Ellen F.M. 't Hoen LL.M.=0D
Director Policy Advocacy=0D
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Medecins sans Frontieres=0D
Access to Essential Medicines Campaign=0D
8, rue Saint - Sabin=0D
75544 Paris cedex 11=0D
France=0D
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tel: + 33 1 4021 2836=0D
fax: + 33 1 40212960=0D
e-mail: ellen.t.hoen@paris.msf.org=0D
www.accessmed-msf.org