A contrite-sounding secretary general of Thailand’s FDA says his country is through with issuing compulsory licenses for pharmaceuticals, at least for now. “At this moment, no other drugs will come up for CL from the ministry of public health,” Siriwat Tiptaradol, told a sparsely attended press conference at the BIO convention in Boston this afternoon.

He also says Thailand hopes to meet on May 14 with Abbott Labs to discuss the row over Kaletra, the AIDS med for which Bangkok has issued a compulsory license. That move prompted the drugmaker to retaliate by refusing to sell new meds to the country, although Abbott did offer to lower the price of a new, heat-resistant Kaletra if the license is dropped.

The controversy is now an international issue. Last week, the US Trade Rep placed Thailand on its Priority Watch List for failing to “provide an adequate level of intellectual property rights protection or enforcement, or market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.” While acknowledging Bangkok hasn’t violated world trade rules, the US cited a “lack of transparency and due process,” which was called “a serious concern.”

Tiptaradol, who was on hand with more than a dozen other Thai officials to discuss investment opportunities with biotech companies, also said his government is “this close” to resolving disagreements with Merck and Sanofi-Aventis. Bangkok already authorized, but not yet implemented compulsory licenses for a Merck AIDS drug and a Sanofi heart med.

“They have reduced their prices and we very close. If the price is reasonable and competes with price from India and China, we don’t have to use compulsory licenses,” said Tiptaradol, adding that “we have to have a price that is reasonable to the consumer.”

Yongyuth Yuthavong, the Thai minister of science and health, made a point of noting that, during the anthrax scare in the US several years ago, some politicians in Washington were quick to push for a compulsory license for Bayer’s Cipro antibiotic. “This is something each country must do to look after its own citizens.”

The patent issue dominated the 30-minute session, which attracted only a handful of the 20,000 or so BIO attendees who are in Boston this week. The controversy has clearly scared off biotech companies, who Thai officials hoped to woo with a presentation on the merits of investing in Thailand. Instead, the nearly 20 Thai government reps outnumbered the tiny crowd of about a half dozen attendees.

The US Trade Rep report issued last week.

[tags]Compulsory Licensing, Generics, Patents, Thailand[/tags]