By Jason Derry --
The Thailand government recently announced that it has issued two more
compulsory licenses for generic versions of patented drugs. One of the drugs is Plavix, a heart disease
drug made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis. The other drug is Kaletra, an HIV/AIDS drug
made by Abbott Laboratories. The
licenses follow the compulsory license issued late last year for the AIDS drug
Efavirenz, which is made by Merck (as reported here on December 6 and December 18). As
before, it appears that the Thailand government issued these new licenses
without talking with the companies about providing the necessary medicines at a
more reasonable cost. News of the recent
licenses prompted a quick response
from the pharmaceutical industry. The
industry fears that other countries will follow Thailand's example and begin
issuing compulsory licenses rather than contacting companies to discuss ways to
lower the costs associated with patented drugs.
Jason Derry, Ph.D., who graduated with honors from DePaul University
College of Law, is a molecular biologist and founding author of Patent Docs.
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