[Ip-health] WSJ Asia edition editorial on Thai compulsory licensing dispute

[Mike Palmedo]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120406606358794697.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Bangkok's Drug War, Round Two

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA
February 27, 2008

Thailand's military government may be gone, but its war on drug patents
is still very much alive. Just ask the new Health Minister, Chaiya
Sasomsup, who is thinking about restoring intellectual property rights
to their rightful owners -- the pharmaceutical companies.

Mr. Chaiya, who took office this month, is trying to clean up the mess
bequeathed by his predecessor, Mongkol na Songkhla. Citing a World Trade
Organization loophole, Dr. Mongkol seized patents on Merck's HIV/AIDS
drug Efavirenz in 2006. In 2007, he took another HIV/AIDS patent --
Abbott Laboratory's Kaletra -- and Sanofi-Aventis's patent for a heart
drug, Plavix. His last act before leaving office last month was to sign
an order to seize four cancer drug patents: two from Novartis, one from
Sanofi-Aventis, and one from Roche.

Mr. Chaiya is worried both about Thai patients' access to new drugs and
trade sanctions against Thailand for seizing patents. Fair enough: The
WTO provision Dr. Mongkol used specifies patent seizures are allowed
only after "efforts to obtain authorization from the right holder on
reasonable commercial terms and conditions," or in cases of "national
emergency." It's unclear that Thailand's actions fit either circumstance.

But woe be to Mr. Chaiya to utter such heresy in Thailand, where
nonprofit groups such as Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders have
inculcated the public with scare stories about how Big Pharma has it in
for Thai consumers. The NGO packhounds immediately flooded the Thai
media with scare stories about Mr. Chaiya's proposal, forcing him to do
a political backstep last week and say compulsory licensing policy has
been "maintained." The matter is still under review.

What's missing here is the other side of the argument. Many drug
companies tier their pricing, charging developed countries more and
developing countries such as Thailand, less. Thailand also faces a range
of delivery problems that raise the ultimate cost of drugs to consumers,
including high taxes on imports. Not least, seizing patents also puts
patients at risk of importing nonbranded, lower-quality drugs.

Mr. Chaiya's job is to look after the health of the Thai people, not the
political motivations of NGOs. It's clear what serves Thais best: drug
companies that are incentivized, through the profit motive, to research
and develop new drugs.

--
Mike Palmedo
Research Coordinator
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
American University, Washington College of Law
4910 Massachutsetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20016
T - 202-274-4442 | F 202-274-0659
mpalmedo@wcl.american.edu