Thailand may override patents on some cancer drugs
- From: J <nswex@nalid;anon>
- Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:24:16 -0400
Thailand may override patents on some cancer drugs
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http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=90349
By Nopporn Wong-Anan
Reuters
Last updated 02:44pm (Mla time) 09/24/2007
BANGKOK -- Thailand, which has overridden international patents on three
drugs in the past year, plans to issue four more licences for copycat
versions of cancer medicines, Health Ministry officials said on Monday.
The government would impose compulsory licences on four drugs sold by
Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis and Roche if negotiations with the global
pharmaceutical giants to lower prices failed, they said.
"We have picked these four drugs because patients have great difficulties
to access them; they are very expensive," Sanguan Nitayarumphong, head of
the ministry's agency responsible for free treatment for the poor, told
Reuters.
"If the negotiations with the drug firms fail, we will have to declare
compulsory licensing," Sanguan said.
Previous compulsory licences on HIV/AIDS and heart disease drugs, which
Thailand says are legal under World Trade Organization rules, drew flak
from big drug makers, Washington and Brussels, but applause from HIV/AIDS
advocacy groups.
Shortly after that, Bangkok began talks with makers of two HIV/AIDS drugs
and a heart medicine on which it issued compulsory licences, Abbott
Laboratories, Merck & Co.and Sanofi-Aventis, to lower the prices, but made
no progress.
Sanguan said the four cancer treatment drugs, which his panel recommended
for price talks, were Imanitib, Docetaxel, Erlotinib and Letrozole,
because cancers were the number-one killer in Thailand.
Imanitib, marketed by Novartis as Gleevec in the United States and Glivec
in Europe, is used to treat leukaemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
Docetaxel, sold as Taxotere by Sanofi-Aventis, is used to treat lung
cancer, ovarian cancer and breast cancers, while Erlotinib, marketed as
Tarceva by Roche, is used to treat lung, pancreatic and other types of
cancers.
Letrozole, sold as Femara by Novartis, is used to treat breast cancer and
Sanguan said a generic version cost 6 baht (19 cents) a tablet, 40 times
cheaper than the patented one.
"There have been reports of families of lung cancer patients flying to
India to buy the generic version of Erlotinib because the patented drug
cost 100,000 baht a month," Sanguan said.
Teera Chakajnarodom, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers' Association of Thailand, told Reuters he was surprised by
the move as Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, he said, had promised not to
impose more compulsory licences.
"Compulsory licensing is not the long-term solution to tackle access
problem since there are always new drugs for new diseases and these drugs
cost a lot of money to develop," Teera said.
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