Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - March 11, 2008
Nicholas Zamiska, nicholas.zamiska@wsj.com
The drugs' makers include Roche Holding AG and Novartis AG of Switzerland and Sanofi-Aventis of France.
Suphan Srithamma, a spokesman for the Thai health ministry, said that Minister Chaiya Sasomsup has decided to support the previous government's decision to ignore cancer-drug patents in a bid to cut the cost of medicines for the Thai people. The health ministry will make its recommendation to the Thai cabinet today, according to Dr. Suphan.
Thailand's previous health minister, Mongkol na Songkhla, decided in early January to issue compulsory licenses (a policy that permits lower-cost generics) for four drugs: Novartis's imatinib, also known as Gleevec; Novartis's breast-cancer drug letrozole, whose brand name is Femara; Sanofi-Aventis's docetaxel, marketed as Taxotere and used to fight lung and breast cancer; and Roche's erlotinib, whose trade name is Tarceva.
Novartis proposed that same month to offer Gleevec free to poor Thai patients, possibly making a compulsory license unnecessary, according to the ministry of health. A Novartis spokeswoman wasn't available for comment. It wasn't clear how yesterday's decision would affect Gleevec, given Novartis's apparent earlier concession.
Martina Rupp, a spokeswoman for Roche, based in Basel, said the Swiss company's Thai subsidiary is currently in talks with the government "to support greater access to medicines for Thai patients." Ms. Rupp added that Roche "has been, and always will be, open to discussion and dialogue with the appropriate authorities."
Jean-Marc Podvin, a spokesman for Sanofi-Aventis in Paris, said that his company hasn't yet received definitive word from the Thai government, but that "we still remain optimistic" about the negotiations. Mr. Podvin added that Sanofi has "some concerns about the quality of the generic" version of docetaxel, which had world-wide sales of Ç1.87 billion ($2.87 billion) in 2007, that would be used to replace Sanofi's drug in Thailand.
Teera Chakajnarodom, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association -- the multinational drug industry's trade group in Bangkok, which counts among its members the three European drug companies whose patents are at stake -- condemned the Thai health minister's move.
"This is not good for the country. The image of Thailand will drop further," he said. "They should bring back the image of Thailand as a country that respects" intellectual-property rights.
Ever since a bloodless military coup in Thailand in September 2006, the military-installed government had been battling big pharmaceutical companies, threatening to sidestep their patents on drugs for AIDS and other diseases if they didn't drop the price of their medications. The Thai government argued that since the country's poor population couldn't afford the lifesaving drugs, and the government didn't have sufficient funds to cover their cost, drug companies should put public health before profit and cut the cost of the medications.
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James Hookway contributed to this article.
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