Thailand plans to issue 4 cancer drug compulsory licenses

The Thailand government will go ahead with the implementation of compulsory licensing (CL) for four cancer drugs, Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said.

The minister did not disclose the names of the drugs listed for compulsory licensing, simply saying the decision had been made on Jan 4 following a proposal submitted by the sub-panel chaired by Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) board chairman Vichai Chokewiwat. The Vichai panel has advised the public health minister to issue compulsory licences for the breast cancer drug Letrozole and the leukaemia drug Imatinib, both produced by Novartis, the breast and lung cancer drug Docetaxel, produced by Sanofi-Aventis, and lung cancer drug Erlotinib, made by Roche.

We had discussed this possibility, here.