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By Pongpiphat Banchanont

BANGKOK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Thailand's army appointed government said on Monday it had approved a cheap, copycat heart disease drug, the first time a developing country has ignored an international patent for such a treatment.

As well as the "compulsory licence" of Plavix, made by U.S. and European pharmaceutical giants Bristol-Myers Squibb <BMY.N> and Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA>, Bangkok approved a generic version of Abbott Laboratories' <ABT.N> Kaletra to treat HIV/AIDS.

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.

"The laws have been signed and became effective on Friday," said Mongkol, who angered drugs companies in November by introducing Thailand's first such licence for Merck's Efavirenz anti-retroviral AIDS treatment.

Under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, a government is allowed to declare a "national emergency" and licence the production or sale of a patented drug without the permission of the foreign patent owner.

Teera Chakajnorodom, chairman of Bangkok-based pharmaceutical industry group PReMA, said he had not been told about the move in advance.

Although the drug companies had not had time to coordinate a response, Teera said they might legally challenge the move.

SLASHING COSTS

In Geneva, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) urged the Thai government to discuss the issue with drugs companies.

Compulsory licences were open to abuse and could put the health of patients at risk, it said in a statement.

The widening of compulsory licensing is another blow to foreign investors already reeling from capital controls imposed in December to stem a rise in the baht and a proposed tightening of laws governing overseas firms in Thailand.

Foreign investors said it also appeared to be another case of the government, which assumed power after a Sept. 19 coup against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, acting unilaterally and appearing indifferent to international reaction.

Thawat Suntrajarn, head of the Health Ministry's Disease Control Department, said the copycat drugs would initially be imported from India and would then be produced by Thailand's state-owned drug maker.

The price of Plavix would drop by more than 90 percent to 6 baht (18 US cents) per tablet, he said.

Plavix is Bristol-Myers Squibb's biggest-selling medicine, which had annual sales of $6 billion before a copycat Canadian-manufactured version hit the market briefly in August.

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. ($1=33.40 baht)

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