Bangkok plans to import copycats of the popular bloodthinner and shipments are expected to arrive from India within two months, according to Vichai Chokvivat, chairman of the state-run Government Pharmaceutical Organization, Thomson Financial reports. The first batch will consist of 2 million pills and cost three cents each, compared with about $2 in pharmacies, he says. The army-run government is already importing cheaper versions of Efavirenz from India.

The move is likely to set intensify an already inflamed situation. For months, Thailand has sparred with big drugmakers over plans to issue compulsory licenses - which suspends patent protections - for two AIDS meds, Abbott’s Kaletra and Merck’s Efavirenza, as well as Plavix, which is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis. Bangkok is threatening to do the same with cancer meds.

The step prompted the US Trade Rep to place Thailand on its Priority Watch list, which some members of congress called retaliation. Separately, Abbott threatened to withhold sales of various meds in Thailand, although the drugmaker recently backed down and agreed to market a new, heat-resistant version of Kaletra for children.

Earlier this month, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson warned Thailand about its policy, calling it ‘a matter of concern for the European Union.’ But Thailand’s health ministry says fewer than 10 pct of the 300,000 heart patients can afford Plavix, and that heart disease is Thailand’s second leading cause of death after AIDS.