[Ip-health] Thailand plans to buy more AIDS and heart drugs from India

[Sarah Rimmington]

1. Bloomberg: Thailand Buying Three Generic AIDS, Heart Drugs From India
2. Pharmalot: Thailand May Break Patents on Cancer Meds


1. Thailand Buying Three Generic AIDS, Heart Drugs From India

By Beth Jinks and Haslinda Amin

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=3D20601202&sid=3DaRmSWtVJfJME&refer=
=3Dhealthcare

June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand plans to buy more generic AIDS drugs
from India to cut the cost of treating its poorest patients after
failing to win large enough discounts from drugmakers including Merck &
Co. and Abbott Laboratories.

Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said he will order more
copies of Merck's Stocrin from Matrix Laboratories Ltd., a unit of
U.S.-based Mylan Laboratories Inc., and plans to buy generic versions of
two other life-saving drugs from India.

``Negotiations didn't come out as good as we expected,'' Mongkol said in
an interview. ``If their prices aren't more than 5 percent above the
generic drugs, we won't hesitate to buy from them. Now, their prices are
20 percent higher.''

Thailand says copying the drugs will allow the government to provide
free medicine to a larger share of the country's poorest citizens,
including its 220,000 HIV sufferers. The Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America, a drug industry trade group, says taking that
step would remove the incentive for companies to invest in research, and
that its members would retaliate by not introducing new drugs in Thailand.

``I'm not afraid of having no drugs to treat people,'' Mongkol said in a
June 20 interview in Bangkok. ``If there aren't any patented drugs
registered in Thailand, it's more convenient for us to import generic
drugs from other countries.''

The country, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, will place a
second order with Matrix for the AIDS drug efavirenz, Mongkol said. The
patented version is marketed as Stocrin by Merck and as Sustiva by
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

More Copies

The Thai government is also ``in the process'' of ordering Matrix's
copies of AIDS drugs Kaletra and its updated version Aluvia, made by
Abbott, and clopidogrel, the heart medicine sold under the name Plavix
by Bristol-Myers and France's Sanofi- Aventis SA, he said.

Thailand's Food and Drug Administration Director-General Siriwat
Thiptharadol is meeting ``about twice a week'' with pharmaceutical
companies to continue price negotiations, he said. Thailand has to order
the three drugs from India as its stocks of the patented versions are
running out, Mongkol said.

The discounted medicines will only be provided to patients who can't
afford the patented drugs, he said.

The World Bank in August recommended that Thailand consider issuing
so-called compulsory licenses under a World Trade Organization provision
that allows governments to permit generic-drug production without the
patent owners' consent in some cases.

Cancer Drugs

Two committees are examining whether to issue compulsory licenses on
cancer medicines to treat poor Thai patients suffering from breast and
blood cancer, Mongkol said. He declined to name any drugs under
consideration.

``We have to look at which diseases are killing our people because they
can't access the drugs,'' he said. ``Cancer creates the third-highest
death toll for Thai people, after AIDS and clogged arteries.''

Sanofi offered to sell Plavix at 27 baht (78 U.S. cents) per tablet,
with an added incentive of supplying 3.4 million tablets for the same
cost as 1 million, Siriwat said June 6. Merck offered to sell its AIDS
medicine for 726 baht per patient per month, and to supply a free liquid
form of the drug for 2,500 HIV-infected children a year. Merck also
offered to cover their diagnosis costs and train health workers in
treating youngsters.

Abbott has maintained its offer to supply Aluvia at $1,000 per patient
per year, Siriwat said. Abbott has cut the price from $2,200,
spokeswoman Jennifer Smoter said June 6.

Not Enough

``The price is not cheap enough,'' Mongkol said. The additional
incentives on offer are ``not what we want, we want lower prices.''

Demand for Kaletra, a drug often used as a second line of defense in the
treatment of HIV, is growing because of increased resistance to cheaper
first-line treatments and liver-related side effects, according to
Doctors Without Borders, a medical aid group.

Thailand this year joined China and 10 other nations on the U.S.
government's list of the world's worst infringers of intellectual
property rights, which could make it easier for aggrieved U.S.
industries to argue the Southeast Asian nation should lose some trade
privileges.

Mongkol met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Deputy
U.S. Trade Representative John K. Veroneau last month in an effort to
avoid trade retaliation. He said then that the U.S. government didn't
relent on their opposition to the compulsory licensing plan.

To contact the reporters on this story: Beth Jinks in Bangkok at
bjinks1@bloomberg.net <mailto:bjinks1@bloomberg.net> ; Haslinda Amin in
Bangkok at hamin1@bloomberg.net <mailto:hamin1@bloomberg.net>

/Last Updated: June 21, 2007 22:52 EDT/

2.  Thailand May Break Patents on Cancer Meds
Pharamalot
June 22, 2007
by Ed Silverman

http://www.pharmalot.com/2007/06/thailand-may-break-patents-on-cancer-meds/

Bankgok has established two committees to examine whether to issue compulso=
ry licenses for meds to treat patients suffering from breast and blood canc=
er, says Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla, although he declined t=
o name any of the drugs under consideration.

=93We have to look at which diseases are killing our people because they ca=
n=92t access the drugs,=94 he tells Bloomberg News. =93Cancer creates the t=
hird-highest death toll for Thai people, after AIDS and clogged arteries.=
=94

Meanwhile, Songkhla says he plans to order more copies of Merck=92s Stocrin=
 from Matrix Laboratories, a unit of Mylan Laboratories, and plans to order=
 generic versions of Sanofi=92s Plavix blood thinner and Abbott=92s Kaletra=
 AIDS med from India, because the big drugmakers failed to offer the big di=
scounts Thailand wants.

=93Negotiations didn=92t come out as good as we expected,=94 Mongkol says. =
=93If their prices aren=92t more than 5 percent above the generic drugs, we=
 won=92t hesitate to buy from them. Now, their prices are 20 percent higher=
.=94

Thailand says copying the drugs will allow the government to provide free m=
edicine to a larger share of the country=92s poorest citizens, including it=
s 220,000 HIV sufferers. PhRMA says taking that step would remove the incen=
tive for companies to invest in research, and that its members would retali=
ate by not introducing new drugs in Thailand. Two days ago, 35 members of C=
ongress wrote the US Trade Rep this week, accusing her of retaliating again=
st Thaliand by placing the country on its Priority Watch list.

=93I=92m not afraid of having no drugs to treat people,=94 Mongkol says. =
=93If there aren=92t any patented drugs registered in Thailand, it=92s more=
 convenient for us to import generic drugs from other countries.=94
--
Sarah Rimmington
Project Attorney
Essential Action, Access to Medicines Project
Washington, DC
Office: (202) 387-8030 x34
Mobile: (202) 422-2687
www.essentialaction.org/access