Healthy Skepticism Library item: 13072

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Publication type: news

Wiriyapong N.
Bayer lashes out against compulsory licences
Bangkok Post 2008 Mar 6

Full text:

Compulsory licensing (CL) is just a
short-tern solution and Thailand should come up with
better options to fix the problem of pricing drugs for
local patients, say executives of Germany-based Bayer
Schering Pharma (BSP) AG.

CLs are short-term and do not really solve the problem
itself, said Chris Lee, who heads BSP’s $1.2-billion
business in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Our key message is the same as the industry’s, in
that we recommend the Thai government have the
participation of all stakeholders … not only drug
companies but others like patient groups before making
the decision,” he said.

“CLs (imposed in Thailand) are a decision made by the
government only,” said Mr Lee.

Former public health minister Mongkol Na Songkhla, who
was installed by the army after September 2006 coup,
imposed CLs on two Aids drug and a heart medication.

Thai health authorities earlier this year announced
CLs on three cancer drugs.

Mr Lee said CLs did not help improve Thailand’s
reputation in the eyes of international pharmaceutical
companies, making the Thai market more challenging.

Non-governmental organisations contend that CLs are a
legitimate method of ensuring inexpensive medicines
for the poor. Mr Lee said that CLs limited drug
companies’ profits and hindered research and
development.

However, he said CLs would not affect Bayer’s plan to
introduce new drugs in the Thai market. In the next
few months it intends to launch YAZ, the first oral
contraceptive for treatment of symptoms associated
with the menstrual cycle, which was recently
registered for the Thai market.

In 2009, Bayer aims to market Nexavar, an oral therapy
for advanced kidney and liver cancers, in Thailand. It
also aims to launch rivaroxaban, an oral drug designed
to prevent and treat blood clots the year after, Mr
Lee said.

BSP was formed a year ago after Bayer AG acquired
German rival Schering’s pharmaceutical business in
2006. The deal allowed BSP Asia-Pacific to increase
its revenue by 26% last year, outpacing the industry’s
overall growth of 12%, he added.

Apart from China, the key growth engine that
contributed to 35% of BSP’s sales in the whole region
in 2007, Mr Lee said Thailand was one of Bayer’s
biggest markets in Southeast Asia.

The business of BSP in Thailand focuses on three main
areas – primary care or clinical diseases, women’s
health care, and oncology or cancer treatment. BSP’s
other three core businesses in the region are
specialised therapeutics, diagnostic imaging and
cardiology/haematology.

Mr Lee said BSP aimed to maintain its double-digit
growth in Asia-Pacific in the next few years. It hopes
to beat rivals to become the biggest pharmaceutical
firm in China this year.