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April 12, 2007
Patents and Drugs in Thailand
Some of the theories around a developing country's ability to produce generic drugs have been put to the test in Thailand in the last couple of months. The country announced it would break patents, and while several drug companies threatened to jack up prices or withhold drugs from the country, Thailand now appears to have the upper hand. I was going to try to summarize the episode, but then the IHT did it for me.
Drug-maker Abbott had earlier cut the price of AIDS drug Kaletra, showing a chink in the armor. More background.
Congress is on both sides of this one. A group of Senate Democrats led by nominal Democrat Joe Lieberman wrote a letter siding with the drug companies. Our old friend James Love deconstructs their position. Another group of Democrats spoke out in favor of Thailand's right to break patents.
Posted by Adam Graham-Silverman at April 12, 2007 03:10 AM