[Ip-health] EU Split Arises Over Thai Effort To Obtain Cheaper Patented Drugs

[Alexandra HEUMBER]

This is a multipart message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D732&res=3D1024&print=3D0=0D
=0D
=0D
5 September 2007=0D
EU Split Arises Over Thai Effort To Obtain Cheaper Patented Drugs=0D
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch=0D
A dispute has erupted between two of the European Union=E2=80=99s most powe=
rful=0D
institutions over Thailand=E2=80=99s decision to circumvent pharmaceutical =
patents=0D
in order to boost its supply of cheap medicines.=0D
Peter Mandelson, who holds the trade portfolio in the EU=E2=80=99s executiv=
e arm,=0D
the European Commission, recently wrote to several Thai ministers after=0D
Bangkok decided to overrule patents on three medicines by issuing=0D
compulsory licenses. The action is allowable under international trade=0D
rules.=0D
Mandelson expressed concern over reports that Bangkok =E2=80=9Cmay be takin=
g a new=0D
approach to access to medicines=E2=80=9D by stating that =E2=80=9Cif drug c=
ompanies wish=0D
to do business in Thailand, they should offer their drugs for no more than=
=0D
5 percent above=E2=80=9D the cost of generic versions of the products in qu=
estion.=0D
=0D
According to Mandelson, =E2=80=9Cthis approach would be detrimental to the =
patent=0D
system and so to innovation and the development of new medicines=E2=80=9D a=
nd =E2=80=9Cit=0D
risks forcing more drug companies to abandon their patents.=E2=80=9D=0D
But members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have taken exception to=0D
Mandelson=E2=80=99s letter, which was dated 10 July but only became public =
in late=0D
August.=0D
Many MEPs believe that Mandelson should not be seeking to exert pressure=0D
over developing countries which overrule drug patents in order to address=
=0D
public health needs.=0D
They also feel that Mandelson was insensitive to questions raised by the=0D
Parliament over the relationship between global intellectual property=0D
rules and access to medicines.=0D
In a resolution adopted on 12 July, the Parliament called on the=0D
Commission and the EU=E2=80=99s governments to provide political support fo=
r=0D
states who wish to invoke provisions in the World Trade Organisation=E2=80=
=99s=0D
agreement on trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) that allow=
=0D
them override patents for public health reasons. .=0D
Helmuth Markov, the German MEP who chairs the Parliament=E2=80=99s committe=
e on=0D
international trade, confirmed to Intellectual Property Watch that he=0D
intends to send a written complaint to Mandelson next week.=0D
Markov said that it would be premature to say what the contents of his=0D
complaint will be as he has to discuss it with other members of his=0D
committee at an 11-12 September meeting.=0D
He said, however, that Mandelson =E2=80=9Cdid not chose the right timing=E2=
=80=9D for the=0D
letter to Bangkok, given that it coincided with the concerns raised by the=
=0D
European Parliament.=0D
Next week=E2=80=99s international trade committee will assess a request tha=
t the=0D
Parliament ratify a 2005 amendment to the TRIPS accord relating to access=
=0D
to medicines. The protocol is designed to make permanent a temporary=0D
waiver from TRIPS agreed by the WTO in 2003, allowing poor countries=0D
lacking production capacity to address public health emergencies by=0D
importing cheap generic versions of patented drugs produced under a=0D
compulsory licence.=0D
The European Commission and EU governments have asked the Parliament to=0D
approve the protocol this year. Yet MEPs so far have questioned whether=0D
the waiver has proven too complex and ineffective for it to be of=0D
practical benefit to the needy. Rwanda this summer became the only=0D
developing country so far to make use of the waiver=E2=80=99s provisions.=
=0D
Did the Commission Take the Right Stance?=0D
Swedish Green MEP Carl Schlyter described Mandelson=E2=80=99s letter as=0D
=E2=80=9Ccounterproductive.=E2=80=9D=0D
He argued that the Commission has been trying to ensure that compulsory=0D
licenses are only used by countries classified as =E2=80=98least-developed=
=E2=80=99 by the=0D
United Nations, rather than by any poor and middle-income country facing=0D
serious health problems, and which represent larger markets for patented=0D
drugs. .=0D
=E2=80=9CThe Commission fails to understand the purpose of the compulsory=
=0D
licensing system,=E2=80=9D he said, adding that the executive =E2=80=9Cshou=
ld be happy=E2=80=9D=0D
that Thailand has been making use of the flexibilities applying to TRIPS.=
=0D
But a Commission official handling trade issues claimed that Mandelson=E2=
=80=99s=0D
letter =E2=80=9Chas been misrepresented and unfairly maligned.=E2=80=9D=0D
The official said that Mandelson was not seeking to question the three=0D
compulsory licenses issued by Thailand since late last year but to seek=0D
clarification about reports it was planning to circumvent patents=0D
systematically when it regarded the price of particular medicines as too=0D
high.=0D
=E2=80=9CWe welcome the clarification we have received Thailand that it has=
 no=0D
intention of doing so,=E2=80=9D the official said, arguing that the Commiss=
ion=0D
accepts that patents can be circumvented when dealing with public health=0D
emergencies.=0D
=E2=80=9CIn two of the cases where Thailand used compulsory license, it was=
 to=0D
deal with AIDS, which meets anyone=E2=80=99s understanding of an urgent pub=
lic=0D
health issue,=E2=80=9D the official said. =E2=80=9CSomething like heart dis=
ease [the third=0D
compulsory license], perhaps does not meet the criteria.=E2=80=9D=0D
Thailand has an estimated 600,000 people who are HIV positive and has=0D
recorded some 300,000 deaths from AIDS.=0D
In November last year, the government decided to allow off-patent=0D
production of Efavirenz, a patented AIDS treatment manufactured by Merck=0D
Sharp and Dohme. During 2007, it has overruled patents on Kaletra, another=
=0D
AIDS drug, made by Abbott. It has also announced its intention to begin=0D
importing Indian-made generic versions of Plavix, a blood-thinner used in=
=0D
treating heart disease, made by Sanofi-Aventis.=0D
Thai Reply=0D
Krirk-krai Jirapaet, the Thai minister of commerce, responded to Mandelson=
=0D
in a letter dated 8 August. The minister said that both WTO rules and=0D
Thailand=E2=80=99s 1991 Patents Act allow government agencies to use compul=
sory=0D
licenses without prior authorisation from the patent holders. But he also=
=0D
said that a committee set up by the Thai health ministry had entered into=
=0D
negotiations with drug companies holding patents of drugs for which=0D
compulsory licenses had been issued.=0D
Alexandra Heumber, an access to medicines campaigner with the humanitarian=
=0D
organisation M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res (MSF), said that compulsory=
 licenses=0D
are proving vital in ensuring a greater supply of second-line treatments=0D
for AIDS - medicines required by patients who have developed a resistance=
=0D
to their previous prescription. Patented versions of second-line=0D
treatments are usually unaffordable for poor countries, MSF says.=0D
=E2=80=9CIf the European Parliament doesn=E2=80=99t react strongly to Peter=
 Mandelson=E2=80=99s=0D
letter then the consequences will be quite worrying,=E2=80=9D Heumber added=
. =E2=80=9CThe=0D
Commission and EU governments need to support countries using the=0D
flexibilities allowed for by TRIPS but in practise this is not what=E2=80=
=99s=0D
happening.=E2=80=9D=0D
David Cronin may be reached at info@ip-watch.ch.=0D
=0D
=0D
=0D
Alexandra Heumber=0D
EU Advocacy Liaison Officer=0D
M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res=0D
Access to Essential Medicines Campaign=0D
Rue Dupr=C3=A9, 94. 1090 Brussels=0D
++32 (0) 2 474 75 09 (Dir off)=0D
++ 32 (0) 479 514 900 (Mob)=0D
++ 32 (0) 2 474 75 75 (Fax)=0D
=0D