Tailândia bate firme na Big Pharma

Sem qualquer juízo de valor, mas o governo da Tailândia não tem medo da Big Pharma. Vai para cima, contra preços considerados extorsivos. Primeiro, medicamentos para aids com vitória (clique aqui), agora para câncer. O Brasil bateu na Big Pharma somente depois da Tailândia no caso da aids quebrando a patente do efavirenz. Aliás, uma boa pauta a ser cumprida: qual a situação atual da produção, distribuição e prescrição do efavirenz no Brasil. Eu, não tenho a menor idéia. Abaixo, trecho de reportagem do The Wall Street Journal sobre a proposta do governo tailandês.

Thailand's new health minister announced that he would urge the Thai government to continue to ignore patents on several cancer drugs, disappointing big pharmaceutical companies that had hoped Bangkok might roll back a policy of overriding patents in the name of public health. The drugs' makers include Roche Holding AG and Novartis AG of Switzerland and Sanofi-Aventis of France. Suphan Srithamma, a spokesman for the Thai health ministry, said that Minister Chaiya Sasomsup has decided to support the previous government's decision to ignore cancer-drug patents in a bid to cut the cost of medicines for the Thai people. The health ministry will make its recommendation to the Thai cabinet today, according to Dr. Suphan. Thailand's previous health minister, Mongkol na Songkhla, decided in early January to issue compulsory licenses (a policy that permits lower-cost generics) for four drugs: Novartis's imatinib, also known as Gleevec; Novartis's breast-cancer drug letrozole, whose brand name is Femara; Sanofi-Aventis's docetaxel, marketed as Taxotere and used to fight lung and breast cancer; and Roche's erlotinib, whose trade name is Tarceva. Novartis proposed that same month to offer Gleevec free to poor Thai patients, possibly making a compulsory license unnecessary, according to the ministry of health. A Novartis spokeswoman wasn't available for comment. It wasn't clear how yesterday's decision would affect Gleevec, given Novartis's apparent earlier concession.