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Published on February 8, 2008

The drugs are docetaxel, produced by Sanofi-Aventis; erlotinib, manufactured by Roche; and lectrozole, made by Novartis. The ministry has been negotiating with the pharmaceutical firms since October for lower prices for the drugs which are used to treat lung and breast cancers.

Docetaxel costs Bt26,500 per 89mg injection, but the generic version costs Bt4,000. Erlotinib costs between Bt2,800 and Bt3,000 per tablet, whereas the generic version costs between Bt275 and Bt735. Letrozole costs Bt230 per tablet, while the generic version is priced between Bt7 and Bt10.

Chaiya said he would ask his predecessor, Dr Mongkol na Songkhla, about the enforcement of compulsory licensing for the three drugs because the Commerce Ministry told him it had received a complaint from the drug firms that proper procedure was not followed.

The pharmaceutical companies claimed that the former health minister had never invited them to negotiate on price reductions for their drugs.

"We have to be careful about the enforcement of compulsory licensing for essential drugs because I am afraid it will impact on the pharmaceutical firms and big countries, and this will put Thailand in trouble," he said.

Chaiya said he would check whether the announcement of compulsory licensing for the cancer drugs was approved by the former Cabinet first or they were informed about it afterwards. "This is a very sensitive issue," he said.

The new health minister said he would meet the Pharmaceu-tical Research and Manufac-turers' Association of Thailand (PReMA) to hear more about the response from the drug companies and would seek collaboration with pharmaceutical firms for access to cheaper drugs.

"I will use my judgement carefully on this issue because I was selected by the people to work in the medical field for their benefit, and I am sure I'll do my best for them," he said.

Dr Wichai Chokevivat, who chaired the committee in charge of compulsory licensing before it was disbanded earlier this week, said everything the panel did was done under Article 51 of the Intellectual Property Rights Act, which allows the Health Ministry to use compulsory licensing as a important tool to give people access to generic versions of essential drugs that are cheaper than the original product.

"We negotiated with the drug firms to reduce their product prices more than 14 times, and the result on some products was satisfactory," he said.

Meanwhile, Jiraporn Limpananont, chairman of the Foundation for Consumers, said if the new health minister tried to cancel the compulsory licensing it would affect many patients who needed the drugs.

Nimit Tienudom, an executive director of the Aids Access Foundation, said he would meet the health minister today to hand over a petition and remind him about the successful enforcement of compulsory licensing for essential drugs.

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation