Talks with pharma-giants collapse, CL seems a certainty

General News - Tuesday December 18, 2007

COMPULSORY LICENSING / CANCER DRUGS

Talks with pharma-giants collapse, CL seems a certainty

APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL

The implementation of compulsory licensing (CL) for breast and lung cancer medications appears inevitable after negotiations for price cuts with the pharmaceutical giants collapsed yesterday.

Siriwat Tiptaradol, secretary-general of Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said he would propose to Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla that Thailand go ahead with CL for three breast and lung cancer drugs, Docetaxel, produced by Sanofi-Aventis, Erlotinib, by Roche, and Letrozole, by Novartis.

He was speaking after the fifth round of price negotiation talks with the drugmakers ended in stalemate yesterday.

Dr Siriwat said Novartis refused to lower the price of its breast cancer regimen Letrozole even though it offered an acceptable deal for its leukaemia drug Imatinib.

Under the deal, the firm would provide free medicinal treatment to 900 patients under the universal healthcare scheme as a trade-off for exemption from the CL policy.

The panel was not satisfied with an offer by Sanofi-Aventis to reduce the price of its lung and breast cancer drug Docetaxel by 10% as a trade-off for a patent override, however.

Roche did not send any representatives to the negotiations.

Dr Siriwat, who chaired yesterday's talks, said he was unhappy with the results of the final discussions and would submit this week a negotiation report to the health minister who would make a decision on whether to import generic versions of the cancer drugs for emergency use.

Cancer ranks as the number one cause of death in Thailand. The male population suffers mostly from lung cancer, whereas breast cancer is the major cause of death among women.

The original version of Imatinib costs 900 baht per tablet compared to the generic version's 50-70 baht.

The injected drug Docetaxel costs 26,500 baht per 80mg dose, compared to the generic drug's cost of 4,000 baht.

The retail price of Erlotinib is 2,800-3,000 baht per tablet compared to the generic version's 275-735 per tablet.

Letrozole costs about 230 baht per tablet but the generic version is priced at only 7-10 baht.

Bangkok Post