"They halted their medical research here long ago and what they're doing now is simply importing drugs to sell in the country," said Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul from Medicins Sans Frontieres.

"What investment are you talking about? Let me refresh your memories, you're investing in nothing here but selling drugs, aren't you?" said Supatra Nacapew, the chairperson of the Thai NGOs Coalition on Aids. "Well, if it's best for you to abandon the Thai pharmaceutical market, we'll be more than happy to help you pack up - free of charge," she added.

They were speaking at a press conference held in response to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association's statement issued on Thursday.

The association claimed its members were concerned about their assets and needed to reconsider their investment plans.

Under an international intellectual property agreement, compulsory licensing of medications for non-commercial use is permitted when there is an urgent national need for medical treatment.

"This [compulsory licensing] is neither stealing nor rule-breaking, but using the legitimate right of a country to save the lives of its people," said Nimitr Tienudom, the director of the Aids Access Foundation.

Compulsory licensing is for five years and the maker is compensated financially, based on sales volume, he said. The firm will still be able to sell its products to the government at the same price as the generic version the country would buy under compulsory licensing.

"There would not have been a compulsory licensing, had those drug companies agreed to lower the price of their drugs to be the same as those generic drugs," he said, adding that talks between the government and drug companies over lowering prices on drugs needed to save lives - as in case of HIV/Aids - never come to an agreement.

Only one company selling an HIV drug had recently contacted the government about discounting its price, only because it knew the government was going to compulsorily license its product, said Supatra.

"Scepticism raised over the quality of generic drugs is just a classic tactic used by drug companies around the world to safeguard their market share in the pharmaceutical trade," said Nimitr, adding that the government is required to buy generic drugs only from only companies accredited by the World Health Organisation.

The original drugs, Supatra said, are priced 10 times higher than the cost of the generic version, as in case of the anti-blood clot drug being considered for compulsory licensing.

The street price of the drug was Bt73 per tablet, compared to only Bt6 to Bt12 for the generic product.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation