Thai Government to Break Drug Patents
I’ve been busy with other projects recently but am not getting caught up on all the chemistry and science related news from the past few days. One of the important ones was a recent announcement about the government of Thailand breaking patents on Plavix (Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb) for heart disease and Efavirenz (Merck) an HIV drug.
FT.com / World / Asia-Pacific - Thai goverment to break drug patents:
This seems to have caught the pharmaceutical industry by surprise. The Thai government says they can not afford the drugs and there are legal processes in place for governments to break patents under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. There is much conversation about under what circumstances this can take place since the law evidently is unclear and critics are saying that Thailand doesn’t have criteria outlined to determine when this should occur.
I have mixed feelings. I am sympathetic to the cost factor but think the Thai government should have enter into negotiations with the companies first. Also, you need to consider that the Thai government recently was overtaken by a military coup de’etat back in September 2006. So it is unclear how exactly this current government will operate.
I don’t think this will become a trend; I think this particular government may be a an aberration.
Technorati Tags: Thailand
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