For the first time since Bangkok threatened last month to override the patents on four cancer drugs - Roche’s Tarceva; Taxotere from Sanofi-Aventis; and Novartis’ Femara and Gleevec - Thailand’s FDA secretary general Siriwat Thiptaradol will meet with the drugmakers in hopes of obtaining lower prices, The Bangkok Post reports. Last month, Thailand threatened to issue compulsory licenses, as it has begun doing for AIDS and heart meds, if the prices weren’t lowerd.

The threats aren’t idle, as pharma continues to learn. Yesterday, for instance, Thailand completed the registration process for Aluvia, a heat-resistance form of Abbott’s Kaletra, for use under a compulsory licensing program. And the first shipment will be made soon by India’s Matrix Laboratories, according to Vichai Chokewiwat, who heads the Government Pharmaceutical Organization and the health ministry’s Committee on Compulsory Licensing.

The shipment will include enough doses of the drug for 8,000 people during the next six months. The move comes after talks between Bangkok and Abbott failed last June. The drugmaker offered to sell Aluvia at a reduce price, but only if Thailand agreed not to allow generic versions. Bangkok balked because a better deal could be had - Abbott had offered to sell Aluvia for about $1,000 a person annually, while Matrix offered to sell a generic Aluvia for $695 a person.