PHA-Exchange> Thailand issues Compulosry Licence to buy Plavix Generics from India

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: TWN News <news at twnnews.net>
Third World Network
www.twnside.org.sg



RE: THAILAND ISSUES COMPULSORY LICENCE TO BUY PLAVIX GENERICS FROM INDIA


We wish to bring to your attention that Thailand has once again issued a
compulsory licence to break a patent in order to provide affordable medicine
to its people.

The Thai government has decided to import a generic version of the heart
drug Plavix from India under compulsory licensing, which will cost 1.01 baht
per tablet as compared to 70 baht a tablet for the patented drug available
on the market. The drug will be supplied by the Indian company M-cure.
Patent for Plavix is held by Sanofi Aventis.

Previously, Thailand has issued compulsory licences for two key Aids drugs,
Efavirenz and Kaletra and has begun importing cheaper versions of Efavirenz
from India.

The government has justified breaking the patents for the drugs, held by
Western pharmaceutical companies, by citing budget constraints in providing
advanced medication for people living with HIV/Aids. Abbott Laboratories
holds the patent for Kaletra while Efavirenz is patented by MSD.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20070830/e3601d71/attachment-0001.html>