Taking a cue from Bangkok, the Brazilian health minister has issued a public interest declaration, which is the first step before the government would issue a compulsory license on the Efavirenz AIDS drug sold by the big drugmaker.

This is one of the same drugs for which Thailand issued compulsory licenses several months ago, causing an international controversy that has put the pharmaceutical industry on the defensive in the ongoing patents vs. patients debate.

The Brazilian declaration mentions unsuccessful price negotiations with Merck, and the health minister, Jose Gomes Temporaro, has given the drugmaker seven days to lower its price. If Merck fails to do so, Brazil will issue a license. Brazil wants Merck to cut the price of Efavirenz to 65 cents a pill - the same price paid by Thailand - from $1.59 per pill paid by Brazil,

This isn’t the first time the Latin American nation and the big drugmaker have sparred over the price of Efavirenz. In 2001, Brazil made similar threats and Merck eventually acquiesced by lowering its price.

These are the first few graphs of the declaration:

The Brazilian Minister of Health, José Gomes Temporão, has signed a decree published today in the Federal Official Gazette declaring the antiretroviral drug Efavirenz to be of public interest. It is the most used imported drug for AIDS treatment. Currently, 38 percent of people with AIDS use the drug as part of their treatment schemes. It is estimated that by the end of this year, 75,000 of the 200,000 National Health System AIDS patients will be using Efavirenz.

The declaration is the first step towards the compulsory licensing of the patent for public non-commercial use – this flexibility is provided for in article 31 of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS Agreement), and may be implemented in several situations provided for by the Brazilian Industrial Property Law (Law No. 9279/96).

The measure has been taken because the Merck laboratory, owner of the Efavirenz patent, did not accept a price reduction proposal that was satisfactory for Brazil, one of the world’s biggest buyers of the drug.

Further reading….
Reuters;
The Brazilian declaration.*

* Pharmalot does not speak Portuguese. A translation was provided by Doctors Without Borders.

[tags]Brazil, Compulsory Licensing, Generics, Merck, Patents[/tags]