Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - May 24, 2007
Apiradee Treerutkuarkul
Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said Merck representatives proposed several interesting options for the anti-retroviral medication which could lead to a win-win solution for both sides.
"Who wants to buy generic drugs for treating patients if the original drug is more affordable?" he said during a teleconference from the United States.
His unexpected comment came just one day after he said the trip to the US had failed to make any inroads into ending the disagreements between Thailand and US pharmaceutical firms.
US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez was reported to have put pressure on the Thai team to abandon its policy of compulsory licensing.
The Public Health Ministry last November issued a compulsory licence to import a generic version of Efavirenz from Indian drug maker Ranbaxy which would cost 540 baht per month per patient - considerably cheaper than the original drug, which costs 726 baht per month per patient.
Dr Mongkol did not give details of the options proposed by the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical firm but said it could be a good example for other drug makers whose patents for Aids and blood thinning drugs had been overridden.
Dr Mongkol insisted the government reserved the right to use compulsory licensing if a problem of access to affordable medicines occurred with any life-threatening disease in Thailand.
Thai Public Health, Commerce and Foreign Affairs ministry officials were in the US to explain to US representatives from various sectors, including pharmaceutical firms, the government's decisions to bypass patents on Aids drugs Efavirenz and Kaletra and the heart drug Plavix.
Billy Tauzin, president and chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, representing the leading US pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, also made it clear to the health minister that leading American drug firms remained deeply troubled by Thailand's use of compulsory licensing.
"Pursuing such drastic measures, as the Thai government has done, not only hurts the innovative engine that helps economies around the world prosper. Worse, it could also limit access to new breakthrough medicines for patients suffering from life-threatening diseases such as HIV/Aids and cancer," he said. "Clearly, Thai patients deserve better."
But Dr Mongkol argued that Washington had received misleading information about Thai policy.
Virat Poorahong of the Thai network Living with HIV/Aids expressed concern at the government's indecisiveness.
"We do not support the government threatening drug companies by announcing compulsory licensing. But we want the government to think and act fast," Mr Virat said.
"We're talking about the lives of half a million HIV-positive people and many more cancer patients who could be short of life-saving medications."
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