THAILAND:Thailand's army-appointed government said yesterday 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 approving the heart disease treatment Plavix, (called compulsory licensing) made by US and European pharmaceutical giants Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis, Bangkok approved a generic version of Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra to treat HIV/Aids.
The move, which Thai health officials said would save the country as much as 800 million baht (€18.6m) 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," said health minister Mongkol na Songkhla.
"The laws have been signed and became effective on Friday," said Mr 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 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 have not had time to co-ordinate a response, Mr Teera said they might legally challenge the move.
In Geneva, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations urged the Thai government to discuss the issue with drugs companies. Compulsory licensing was open to abuse and could put the health of patients at risk, it said.
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 per cent a tablet, he said.
Paul Cawthorne, local head of Doctors Without Borders, backed Mr Mongkol's stance, saying the government was spending 11,580 baht (€270) per patient per month for Kaletra and could cut that bill by two thirds if it switched to a generic make.