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 29, 2007
The move, however, would only be made after July 1, when the status of Thai exports on the US Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) list is announced.
The GSP, a tariff privilege to US trade partners in the developing world, is putting the brakes on the ministry's compulsory licensing of expensive US drugs.
It is feared any further action on US drug patents will put Thailand at a trade disadvantage to other exporters if important exports are taken off the list.
"We have to wait and see the US move first. Its announcement on the GSP will give us the answer," Dr Mongkol told a seminar at parliament yesterday.
Compulsory licensing, which allows the import or production of inexpensive versions of patented drugs for low-income patients, has sparked a row between Thailand and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which wants to protect the interests of US drug firms.
The USTR's decision to downgrade Thailand to its Priority Watch List of countries to be closely monitored for protection of intellectual property rights has been seen as punishment for the compulsory licensing moves.
However, the Thai Chamber of Commerce earlier denied there was connection between the two issues.
It said the US would base its decision on economic factors. Thai export products such as jewellery, rubber, hand-crafted flowers and shrimps could be taken off the GSP list.
The Public Ministry has already imposed compulsory licensing on the HIV/Aids drugs Efavirenz and Kaletra and the heart drug Plavix. Attempts to explainBangkok's position the US by Dr Mongkol early last week were unproductive as Washington only wanted Thailand to review its policy.
Efavirenz is produced by the pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co Inc while Kaletra is a product of Abbott Laboratories. French company Sanofi-Aventis is the patent holder of Plavix.
"Thailand will announce compulsory licensing on no more than five drugs. We took three and there are two left," Dr Mongkol said. He did not name the drugs.
Next in the queue would be cancer drugs. Compulsory licensing would be able to reduce the price of these medicines from around 3,800 baht a tablet to only 200 baht, he said.
"I assure you I will not waste my remaining six months hesitating," he told the seminar.
Thailand has set a model for its health ally Brazil, which has also decided to implement compulsory licensing. Dr Mongkol is scheduled to attend a health conference in Argentina in July and then visit Brazil to sign a health cooperation deal between the two countries.
The Public Health Ministry has already acquired an inexpensive version of Efavirenz to sell to some 500,000 HIV/Aids patients in Thailand. It is currently negotiating for the appropriate prices for Kaletra and Plavix, he said.
Jon Ungphakorn, secretary of the Aids Access Foundation, yesterday urged the minister to call off any talks with Abbott after the US drug giant withdrew applications for seven new drugs, including second-line Aids drugs, with the Food and Drug Administration in response to the compulsory licensing policy.
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