[Ip-health] Bridges Weekly: THAI GOVERNMENT EXPLAINS COMPULSORY LICENCE POLICY ON PATENTED DRUGS

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]

  BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 9 14 March 2007

THAI GOVERNMENT EXPLAINS COMPULSORY LICENCE POLICY ON PATENTED DRUGS

Thailand's government on 8 March released a report elucidating why it
recently decided to suspend patent protections on three drugs by
issuing compulsory licences for the production and import of generic
versions of them.

The explanation follows much debate about the process by which Bangkok
granted the licences (see BRIDGES Weekly, 31 January 2007,
http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/07-01-31/story2.htm). The pharmaceutical
industry argues that the government went too far by suspending patents
without adequate prior negotiations with the patent holders.

According to the WTO TRIPS Agreement, governments do not need to
negotiate with patent holders prior to issuing a compulsory licence for
national emergencies or public non-commercial use (though they must
provide them with a royalty fee as compensation).

The Thai document emphasises that the principal rationale behind the
compulsory licenses was to achieve universal access to essential
medicines through the government's non-commercial public healthcare
programmes. Pointing to rapidly rising drug costs, it said that this
policy demonstrated the Thai "government's commitment to put the right
to life above the trade interest." The report stressed that the
licences had been issued in full compliance with national and
international laws, noting that US Trade Representative Susan Schwab
did not dispute this. It also claimed that the licences would not
affect the country's very small market for patented drugs.

Addressing the demands for prior negotiation with the patent holders,
the report argues that not only were such consultations legally
unnecessary, the government's attempts to work with companies between
2004 and 2006 yielded little in the way of lower prices. "It is only
after the threat or the decision to use and implement compulsory
licensing or government use of patent that the negotiation will be more
successful and effective," it said. The paper pointed to praise for the
government's decision from public health groups. It also described how
the quality of generic versions of the drugs would be ensured. Notably,
it did not rule out the possibility of further compulsory licences.

The report also pointed out that developed countries have made
extensive use of compulsory licences (or the threat thereof) on public
health and anti-competition grounds.

Meanwhile, drugmaker Abbott Laboratories -- whose HIV/AIDS medicine was
one of the three issued compulsory licenses by the government - has
decided against launching new drugs in Thailand.

The report is available online at
http://www.moph.go.th/hot/White%20Paper%20CL-EN.pdf.

"Abbott Won't Launch New Drugs In Thailand After Patent Revocation,"
WALL STREET JOURNAL, March 13, 2007; "Thailand Presents Report On
Compulsory Licensing Experience," INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WATCH, 12 March
2007.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org
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