Thailand allows generic versions of AIDS, heart drugs

Thailand allows generic versions of AIDS, heart drugs

	Published : Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:51 By : Agencies Print this Story

BANGKOK (AFX) - Thailand's health ministry said today that it had approved generic versions of the anti-AIDS drug Kaletra and the blockbuster heart drug Plavix, despite outrage among pharmaceutical companies.

'We have already issued compulsory licenses for two drugs, Plavix and Kaletra, in order to make the price more affordable in Thailand. Right now, the price of these two drugs is very high,' a health ministry spokesman said.

The announcement follows Thailand's decision in November to allow generic versions of pharmaceutical giant Merck's high-priced HIV/AIDS drug Efavirenz.

But the decision to break the patent for Plavix -- sold by French-based Sanofi-Aventis and its US partner, Bristol Myers-Squibb -- marks a departure from a global trend of trying to lower prices on AIDS drugs.

Plavix, a blood-thinning treatment to prevent heart attacks, is believed to be the second-largest medication sold worldwide with global sales of 5.9 bln usd in 2005.

A Canadian company briefly introduced a generic version last year before getting pulled from shelves due to court challenges over the patent's validity.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) praised the government's decision, saying the generic drugs would make treatment more widely available by lowering prices.

The cost of Plavix is expected to drop from 120 baht (3.50 usd) per pill to only six to 12 baht per pill.

Treatment with Kaletra currently costs 11,580 baht per month, and could drop to 4,000 baht per month, the group said.

'The Thai government has been trying to balance drug patents with lowering high prices of drugs. This could be a standard followed by other developing countries where the same problem is faced,' said Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, an MSF campaigner in Thailand.

'The compulsory licensing or government use for this case complies both with the Thai and international law. It will help government cut the cost of AIDS drugs by as much as 90 percent,' she said.

But pharmaceutical companies lashed out at the decision, warning they would have to reconsider their investments in Thailand.

'They are concerned about continuing to invest in a country where the government cannot provide a basic guarantee for the safety of their assets,' the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers' Association (PReMA) said Thursday.

Thailand's universal HIV/AIDS treatment programme has been hailed as a success in the fight against the disease, largely because of the country's ability to provide anti-retroviral drugs to patients.

In 2002, the Thai government launched a generic version of HIV/AIDS triple therapy and was able to cut the cost of treatment 18-fold.

Thailand's treatment program has been widely credited with slashing the number of deaths from AIDS by about 75 percent last year and the number of new annual HIV infections continues to drop.

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