[Ip-health] more coverage of new Thai CL's

[Benjamin Krohmal]

Picked up by the AP as well.  Story includes some misleading language
on TRIPS requirements.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/01/25/ap3362418.html
or
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8MSEM8O1.htm

See also yesterday's Asia Sentinel piece on the efavirenz license:
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=351&Itemid=34


Associated Press
Thailand Expected to Break Drug Patents
By AMBIKA AHUJA 01.25.07, 12:37 PM ET

Thailand's public health minister next week will announce details of
government plans to break the patents on two drugs, reportedly one
used to treat HIV/AIDS and another for heart disease, a ministry
official said Thursday.

The official was responding to reports in the Thai press that Public
Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla had said that Thailand would
declare compulsory licensing for at least two drugs because their
high cost constituted a crisis for the health sector.

Mongkol declined to name the drugs or give further details, and other
officials also refused to say more when contacted Thursday.

An announcement would come Monday, said a spokeswoman for the Public
Health Ministry, who insisted on not being named because of the plan
to release the information on Jan. 29.

Post Today, a Thai-language newspaper, cited an unnamed medical
activist as saying that the drug for treatment of heart conditions
was likely to be Plavix, which is sold by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-
Myers Squibb Co.

According to international trade rules, a government may issue a
compulsory license to manufacture a generic drug in case of a
national public health emergency, even if it has not licensed it from
the patent holder.

Several countries have produced drugs to fight HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS, under compulsory licensing.

More than 500,000 people in Thailand are living with HIV, according
the UNAIDS, the U.N. agency that coordinates the global fight against
the deadly virus.

Dr. David Wilson, the medical co-ordinator in Thailand for Medicins
San Frontieres-Belgium, a medical non-governmental organization, said
it would not be surprising if the drug to treat HIV was Kaletra,
which is produced by Abbott Laboratories.

"Kaletra is the obvious candidate. It is an essential drug for people
with HIV, and as time goes by, more people will need it," he said.

Kaletra is a so-called "second-line" drug, used after "first-line"
therapies start to lose their effectiveness.

Late last year, Thailand ordered compulsory licensing for Efavirenz,
an antiretroviral AIDS drug.

A report issued jointly in August last year by the World Bank and the
Public Health Ministry suggested it made economic sense for Thailand
to exercise compulsory licensing.

The high cost of many commercially licensed HIV drugs is a strong
incentive for compulsory licensing, said Wilson.

"If they are going to treat all people who need that drug (Kaletra),
it needs to be cheaper," he said.

However, Thailand's Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers
Association reacted harshly to what it said were plans to force more
companies to relinquish patents.

The Public Health Ministry was targeting other drugs in addition to
those for AIDS, including antibiotics and treatments for heart
disease and cancer, its president, Teera Chakajnarodom, said in a
statement.

"Leading members of the association ... have confirmed to me that
their plans for further investment in Thailand will be put on hold
pending a review of the foreign investment climate," Teera said.
"They are concerned about continuing to invest in a country where the
government cannot provide a basic guarantee for the safety of their
assets."

"We fully appreciate the health challenges and financial constraints
that the Ministry of Public Health faces. However, the best response
to this situation is to engage constructively with industry to find a
mutually agreeable solution," he said.


Benjamin Krohmal
Coordinator - Project on Medical Innovation
Consumer Project on Technology
Tel: +1-202-332-2670 ex. 14
Fax: +1-202-332-2673
ben.krohmal@cptech.org