Thailand may revoke the compulsory license issued for a generic version of Merck’s Efavirenz AIDS drugs after upbeat talks with the drugmaker.

Thailand’s Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla says Merck reps proposed several options that could lead to a “win-win” solution for both sides. ”Who wants to buy generic drugs for treating patients if the original drug is more affordable?” he tells The Bangkok Post.

His unexpected comment came just one day after he said the trip to the US had failed to make any inroads into ending the disagreements between Thailand and drugmakers. US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez reportedly pressured Mongkol to abandon compulsory licensing.

Thailand’s Public Health Ministry last November issued a compulsory licence to import a generic version of Efavirenz from Indian drug maker Ranbaxy which would cost about 25 percent less than the brand-name version per month per patient.

Mongkol didn’t provide details of the Merck offer, but says the proposal could set a good example for other drugmakers, namely Abbott Labs and Sanofi-Aventis, whose patents were overriden. However, Mongkol insists Thailand still reserves the right to issue licenses.

Mongkol is in the US this week to convince the White House not to take retaliatory action against Thailand. The US Trade Rep recently placed Thailand on its priority watch list, even while acknowledging Bangkok didn’t violate world trade rules. Mongkols argued Washington received misleading info about Thai policy

Brook Baker of Northeastern University’s law school warns Thailand not to back down:

“Thailand is playing into drug companies hands if it backs down on implementing compulsory licenses for short-term gains in the form of price discounts or even sweetheart licensing and technology transfer deals…

Hopefully, Thailand can become convinced to do no more than suspend, rather than revoke the compulsory license, or better yet continue to source generics because of the long-term and collective advantage of doing so.”

Source: The Bangkok Post

[tags]Abbott Labs, AIDS, Compulsory Licensing, Generics, Merck, Patents, Thailand[/tags]