An HIV positive mother with her uninfected daughter
Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:26 AM ET
By Pongpiphat Banchanont (Reuters)
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's army-appointed government confirmed on Monday it approved a cheap, copycat version of a blockbuster heart disease drug, the first time a developing country has torn up the international patent for such a treatment.
In addition to the "compulsory license" of Plavix, made by U.S. and European pharmaceutical giants Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis, Bangkok approved a generic version of Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra, an HIV/AIDS treatment. The move, which Thai health officials said would save the country as much as 800 million baht ($24 million) a year, drew flak from the drug industry but praise from AIDS activists.
"We have to do this because we don't have enough money to buy safe and necessary drugs for the people under the government's universal health scheme," Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla told reporters on Monday, confirming newspaper reports that circulated last week.
"The laws have been signed and became effective on Friday," said Mongkol, who incensed drugs companies in November by introducing Thailand's first such license for Merck's Efavirenz anti-retroviral AIDS treatment. Under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, a government is allowed to declare a "national emergency" and license the production or sale of a patented drug without the permission of the foreign patent owner.
Paul Cawthorne, local head of Doctors Without Borders, backed Mongkol's stance, saying the government was spending 11,580 baht ($347) per patient per month for Kaletra and could cut that bill by two thirds if it switched to a generic make. "That's a perfectly legal method for them to ensure access to essential drugs for Thai people," he said.
My Note: Copyright laws play an important role in protecting intellectual property rights and drive private industry to innovate and produce important products for the market. The challenges for most poorer countires is that the price for the item is controlled by external interests and put the interests of there countries at risk. If the issue is weapons technology I could not care in the least but when it come to health and survival issues, I can truly sympathize with the actions of the Thai govenment. HIV/AIDS is a world crisis and it is in the national interest of these countries to provide for their people. I want the drug companies to make a profit for the investestment of time and capitol to produce the drugs but they hold life at ransom creating outrageous profits. Brazil has also been bold in dealing with the drug companies and has been successful in getting reduced prices. I'm optimistic that bold actions such as taken by countires including Thailand, Brazil, and India will bring much needed medications for many ills with in the reach of the poorest and improve world health.
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