Essential Medicines News

On 29 November 2006, Thailand announced it would issue a compulsory license for the HIV/AIDS medicine, efavirenz. This would be the first time the Thai government has issued a compulsory license.

At this point, that news is not so recent. But there have been more recent developments — after the U.S. government decided to get involved.

ACTIVISTS TELL administration to keep out of Thailand AIDS-drug dispute.

At stake: Bangkok’s plan to issue license to make cheaper generic version of a Merck AIDS drug. Oxfam America, Global Aids Alliance and dozens of others complain after U.S. trade official urged Thai authorities to talk to Merck. The U.S. “should not be in the business of micromanaging” Thailand’s dealings with drug companies, they say in letter to Secretary of State Rice and Trade Rep. Schwab.

USTR says it doesn’t question the right to issue the license, but wants Thailand, where more than one in 100 adults are infected with HIV, to “engage in a dialogue” with all stakeholders.

Merck says it shares Bangkok’s desire to make “essential medicines as accessible as possible.”

Signatories on this letter include Doctors Without Borders, Consumer Project on Technology, American Medical Student Association, Oxfam America, Student Global AIDS Campaign, and Universities Allied for Essential Medicine.

The US government is reportedly asking the Thai government to engage in prior negotiation with patent owners before issuing compulsory licenses. Not only is this not required under the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules when the compulsory license is for government use, it is not required under US law. What the WTO does require is that Thailand “promptly” notify the patent owner when it issues a compulsory license. Thailand has clearly done this. The US government should not be overseeing the management of Thailand’s dealing with the patent owners as long as Thailand abides by its WTO TRIPS obligations.

Love’s post blew the whistle on the U.S. activities here. It also provides a background on similar U.S. activities in the past.

Love is director of the Consumer Project on Technology.

Updates and background on the situation.

After Thailand issued a compulsory license for government production of an HIV/AIDS drug, the patent holder of the product, Merck Sharp & Dohme, has proposed reducing the price by almost two-thirds, local sources said. But Thailand said it wants to see it in writing…

An industry source told Intellectual Property Watch that the Thai government should have talked to the company before issuing the compulsory license, noting that Thailand had not declared an emergency before announcing the license…

A source close to the case confirmed for Intellectual Property Watch shortly after the issuance of the license that Thailand had not talked to the pharmaceutical company Merck before issuing the license, and that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) had started pressuring Thailand to withdraw it.

…our government is quietly trying to bully Thailand into backing off its plan to license generic versions of AIDS medicines for its disease-plagued population …

This particular effort is making pharmaceutical giant Merck angry, because if Thailand moves forward, it will be producing cheaper versions of drugs Merck regularly profiteers off of. It doesn’t seem to matter that this move could save tens of thousands of lives. It doesn’t seem to matter to the Bush administration that Thailand is merely exercising its specific rights under the very same “free” trade agreements it publicly champions - agreements that drug companies like Merck have used their clout pushing. All that seems to matter is that Merck has given millions to the Republican Party over the last decade, and now it’s time for a little payback. Thus, instead of say, our government’s Centers for Disease Control publicly congratulating Thailand for its aggressive moves to stamp out this plague that presents a global security threat, we get our government’s trade officials demanding Thailand back off.