Thai drug move sends "negative" signal to investors
Source: Reuters
(Adds quotes) By Darren Schuettler BANGKOK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Thailand is sending a "negative signal" to foreign investors by breaking the patent on an HIV-AIDS drug held by a major U.S. drug company, the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand said on Friday. But a senior Health Ministry official said the government did nothing wrong in pushing ahead with generic production of Efavirenz after informal talks to get a lower price from patent holder Merck & Co Inc. had failed. Merck has said the government, appointed by the military after a Sept. 19 coup ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had not consulted it before issuing a compulsory licence for the drug on Wednesday. It is the first such licence Thailand has issued under World Trade Organisation rules allowing a government to declare a "national emergency" and produce a patented drug without the consent of a foreign patent owner. "Surprise actions such as these send a negative signal to foreign investors in Thailand regarding transparency and support for intellectual property rights," the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) said in a statement. Foreign investors are keeping a close eye on the new government since Thaksin's business friendly, pro-free trade administration was ousted in the bloodless coup. The United States is Thailand's second biggest source of direct foreign investment, with $21 billion invested by more than 600 AMCHAM member companies. "We hope that surprise actions such as compulsory licensing do not deter Thailand's important efforts to continue to promote intellectual property and promote a positive investment environment," AMCHAM executive director Judy Benn said. Merck says it does not make a profit selling Efavirenz for 1,400 baht ($39) per treatment per month in Thailand. But the government says it can save 4 billion baht over the next five years by allowing its state-owned drug maker to produce Efavirenz for about half the price charged by Merck. It hopes to treat up to 100,000 people, up from the 17,000 who have access now to the drug. MORE PATENTS? Thailand, where 580,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS, treats more than 82,000 patients with drugs covered by the country's health care plan. But it faces soaring costs as people live longer and treatment gets more expensive. Echoing comments made by Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla this week, Thawat Suntrajarn, head of the ministry's Department of Disease Control, said Thailand would break more patents if it could not negotiate better prices from other drug firms. "We agreed it was time to start the compulsory licence for anti-retrovirals, not just Efavirenz, but other necessary drugs for patients with HIV/AIDS in Thailand," Thawat said. He did not say what other drugs would be targeted, but "if we can negotiate with the company to lower the price, it's okay and it's not necessary to issue a CL," or compulsory licence. Doctors Without Borders has urged Thailand to break the patent on Abbott Laboratories' anti-HIV drug Lopinavir, also known as Kaletra, which it says costs more than 7,000 baht per month. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, Thailand's state-owned drug maker, plans to import generic Efavirenz until the GPO makes its own version in June 2007. The GPO already produces a first-line, triple combination drug called GPOvir, but 25 percent of its users suffer side effects or eventually develop resistance and require more expensive second-stage treatments. ($1=35.73 Baht)
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
