Thailand has been put on the US' Priority Watch List for supposedly undermining free trade rules by overriding patent rights of drug firms over AIDS, cancer and other critical drugs. Trade reprisals will likely ensue.
The Philippines should similarly brace itself for a US backlash on a piece of legislation that similarly overrides drug multinational's patent rights under the Cheaper Medicines Act. It is up for final approval in Congress.
Remember the incident where lawyers and representatives of the Pharmaceutical and Health Care Association of the Philippines tried to stop the hearings by handing over a slip of paper to Congressman Teddy Locsin, and getting booted out of the session hall instead?
Drugmakers argue that it is only justified that they be rewarded adequately for long years and massive capital investments poured into research to come up with critical drugs, and that drug pricing merely reflects that reality.
Problems arise when life-saving drugs for AIDS and cancer treatments, for example, remain unreachable to the majority of those who need it, say in third world countries like Thailand and the Philippines because these are just too expensive.
As such, the issue of patented critical drugs becomes a paradox since it has now entered what economists call "public goods" territory. At this point, the state intervenes to benefit the public. Clearly, there appears a trade-off between protecting knowledge and saving lives.
Thus, Sen. Mar Roxas' bill aims to pull down the prices of critical drugs and allows for parallel importation, overriding of existing patents held by drug companies, allowing for the manufacture and importation of generic versions, and disallowing minor modifications of drugs for repatenting.
It is a fact that drugs in the Philippines are among the most expensive in Asia, for a example a similar drug sold in India is priced only at a fraction of its counterpart sold here.
I think the aim of the bill is noble, that is why in Thailand's case, the US will not likely win the public opionion battle. After all, these drugmakers' already earn spectacular profits. The Thai case has already set a precedent as Brazil will likely follow and the Philippines is close to coming up with its own version.
This is a landmark bill that hopefully grants broader access to life-saving drugs. Let us support it, yah?
The Philippines should similarly brace itself for a US backlash on a piece of legislation that similarly overrides drug multinational's patent rights under the Cheaper Medicines Act. It is up for final approval in Congress.
Remember the incident where lawyers and representatives of the Pharmaceutical and Health Care Association of the Philippines tried to stop the hearings by handing over a slip of paper to Congressman Teddy Locsin, and getting booted out of the session hall instead?
Drugmakers argue that it is only justified that they be rewarded adequately for long years and massive capital investments poured into research to come up with critical drugs, and that drug pricing merely reflects that reality.
Problems arise when life-saving drugs for AIDS and cancer treatments, for example, remain unreachable to the majority of those who need it, say in third world countries like Thailand and the Philippines because these are just too expensive.
As such, the issue of patented critical drugs becomes a paradox since it has now entered what economists call "public goods" territory. At this point, the state intervenes to benefit the public. Clearly, there appears a trade-off between protecting knowledge and saving lives.
Thus, Sen. Mar Roxas' bill aims to pull down the prices of critical drugs and allows for parallel importation, overriding of existing patents held by drug companies, allowing for the manufacture and importation of generic versions, and disallowing minor modifications of drugs for repatenting.
It is a fact that drugs in the Philippines are among the most expensive in Asia, for a example a similar drug sold in India is priced only at a fraction of its counterpart sold here.
I think the aim of the bill is noble, that is why in Thailand's case, the US will not likely win the public opionion battle. After all, these drugmakers' already earn spectacular profits. The Thai case has already set a precedent as Brazil will likely follow and the Philippines is close to coming up with its own version.
This is a landmark bill that hopefully grants broader access to life-saving drugs. Let us support it, yah?
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