That’s a common expression that means ‘You’re kidding!’ or ‘Speak Seriously!’

And that’s essentially what Brazil’s health minister said today when the drugmaker offered a price cut on its AIDS med in hopes of persuading the government not to issue a compulsory license for Efavirenz.

“We consider the offer insufficient and we told the manufacturer,” says Brazil’s health minister, Jose Temporao. “The decision (on whether to break the patent) is now being analyzed by the president.” Now, Brazil’s president must decide whether his country will honor Merck’s patent.

Last week, the government said it was considering importing generic versions of the drug, hasn’t mentioned plans to produce Efavirenz locally. Brazil has threatened to break patents before, but has hammered out deals in the end.

Under World Trade Organization rules, a country can sidestep patents by issuing a compulsory license, which allows production and imports of generic drugs for public health and national emergencies. Brazil declared the drug “in the public interest” and too expensive to buy, the same step Thailand recently took, causing a huge flap with big pharma.

In fact, Thailand’s move earned it a place on the US Trade Rep’s Watch List, which was just issued this week, even though the US Trade Rep earlier acknowledged that Thailand hadn’t violated world trade rules.

Brazil wants Merck to cut the price of Efavirenz to $0.65 per pill - the same price paid by Thailand - from $1.57 per pill paid by Brazil, the ministry said. A source close to the negotiations said Merck has since come back with an offer of $1.10 a patient per day, but Brazil rebuffed that bid. The source said the talks were at an impasse.

Merck sells the drug for $1.80 per day in most middle-income countries, according to the company. “We at Merck are disappointed to have had what we considered to be a fair offer rejected by the government of Brazil,” says Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose, adding that Merck repeatedly requested a face-to-face meeting with the health ministry to “further explore a mutually acceptable agreement”.

Source: Reuters[tags]AIDS, Brazil, Compulsory Licensing, Generics, Merck, Patents[/tags]