Thailand Pursues Compulsory License for Anti-AIDS Drug
29 Nov 2006
Thailand's Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) has stated that it will apply for a compulsory license to manufacture a generic form of Effavirenz--a medication that would benefit patients who have become resistant to the country's anti-AIDS drug, GPO-vir.
Under the terms of the licensing agreement, the pharmaceutical manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb, which holds the patent for Effavirenz, will receive 1 percent of the returns from the generic variation. Production of the generic Effavirenz is reported to begin in June 2007. The Thai Public Health Ministry expects the generic version to reduce the costs of alternatives to GPO-vir by a significant amount per patient, per month. It is estimated that, to date, about 5,000 patients who have used GPO-vir have developed a resistance to the drug.
Source: Treerutkuarkul, A. Local version of new Aids drug planned. Bangkok Post. November 29, 2006. [Online]
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