Thailand not eligible to produce generic Molnupiravir anti-viral drug

[snoop1130]

Photo from AP

 

Thailand is not eligible to produce a generic version of Merck’s Molnupiravir anti-viral drug, which is shown to reduce hospitalisations and deaths among COVID-19 patients by 50%, because it is classified as an upper-middle income economy according to the World Bank, unlike other ASEAN neighbours such as Myanmar, the Lao PDR, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, which are low to middle income economies.

 

Director-General of the Medical Services Department Dr. Somsak Akksilp said that this means that Thailand has to buy the drug directly from US pharmaceutical giant Merck.

 

Merck has entered into an agreement with the Medicine Patent Pool (MPP), a United Nations-backed non-profit, which will act as an intermediary and license the patent to generic drug manufacturers outside wealthy countries.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thailand-not-eligible-to-produce-generic-molnupiravir-anti-viral-drug/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-10-29

 

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[tracker1]

Upper middle income economy who are they kidding ?

[smedly]

8 minutes ago, tracker1 said:

Upper middle income economy who are they kidding ?

not for long lol

[johng]

7 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Merck’s Molnupiravir anti-viral drug, which is shown to reduce hospitalisations and deaths among COVID-19 patients by 50%,

 

Wow those clinical trials where really expedited ..operation warp speed 2 ?  ????

[cyril sneer]

good work from the ASEAN neighbours

 

i'm sure these countries will become more desirable destinations in years to come

[RichardColeman]

8 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

because it is classified as an upper-middle income economy according to the World Bank,

Yeah, like maybe when they had tourists.

[edwinchester]

Yeah that's what happens when 1% own almost all of the wealth and bump up the average of the poor.

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Director-General of the Medical Services Department Dr. Somsak Akksilp said that this means that Thailand has to buy the drug directly from US pharmaceutical giant Merck.

????

[George Aylesham]

Merck will be laughing all the way to the bank - according the press reports the generic version will cost US$15 for a 5-day course. The Merck manufactured version will cost US$700 for the same 5-day course.

[IAMHERE]

Thailand has an army to protect it.  Why are the powers in charge afraid of the UN or Merck ?  You can save untold thousand and maybe hundreds of thousand with this easy and cheap to manufacture drug. Just say no to IMPERIALISM. screw the drug companies; make this drug available to save untold numbers of Thais for very cheap. Of course, you got to have a populace willing to fight Merck and west that wants outlandish profits at the expense of dead Thai's. 

YMMV, I could be wrong, way wrong. I don't have money to fight the drug companies on libel laws.

Edited October 30, 2021 by IAMHERE
add weasel words ; Thai Comput Law (TCL)

[vinny]

See also Anti-Covid Drugs Are Coming, But At What Cost?

[placeholder]

11 minutes ago, vinny said:

See also Anti-Covid Drugs Are Coming, But At What Cost?

Latest research found that fluvoxamine, a generic medication, is highly effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths. Cost for a course of treatment is as low as US$4.

[4MyEgo]

18 hours ago, johng said:

 

Wow those clinical trials where really expedited ..operation warp speed 2 ?  ????

They had to stop the trials because the ones in the placebo group where dying (8) I believe, whereas the ones that received Molnupiravir made full recoveries, in other words it was that effective, suffice to say that if they kept testing people with more trials using the placebo method, that would be construed as being unethical with more deaths occurring for certain.  

[zoltannyc]

Income Groups in USD based on GNI per capita

Lower-middle income 1,046 – 4,095

Upper-middle income 4,096 -12,695

High income > 12,695

 

Gross National Income (GNI) calculates the total income earned by a nation's people and businesses, including investment income, regardless of where it was earned. It also covers money received from abroad such as foreign investment and economic development aid.

 

in 2020 Thailand has a per capita GNI of 7050USD ranked 77 among the world economies, so it's an upper-middle income country.

 

For comparison China 10610USD, Malaysia 10581USD,  Indonesia 3870USD, Philippines 3420USD, Vietnam 2660, Myanmar 1260USD

 

 

[Scott Tracy]

I don't recall this status stopping the copying of clothes, handbags, cds, etc. Screw the world, make your own genetic drug. Thailand has many experienced drug makers, they can produce enough for the world.

[vinny]

On 10/30/2021 at 11:55 AM, vinny said:

See also Anti-Covid Drugs Are Coming, But At What Cost?

Quote

The problem is that suboptimal concentrations of the drug could also supercharge the creation of viral variants, introducing a wealth of mutations that aren’t quite enough to stop replication but are enough to drastically change how SARS-CoV-2 operates, either its transmissibility, stability or virulence. While we consider the monetary costs of the drug, we cannot overlook the evolutionary costs of introducing such a powerful mutagen into our Covid-19 environment. The FDA should ensure the safety of the drug before approval, and insist on a full accounting of all data on the drug’s potential to supercharge viral variants.

 

The possibility of a new drug to ward off the most serious symptoms of Covid-19 is welcome news indeed, but we still must question whether the financial cost and the risk of new variants is a price we’re willing to pay.

See also Using a Virus’s Knack for Mutating to Wipe It Out
 

Quote

But T7 did not wither away as they had predicted. After evolving for 200 generations in the presence of the drug, the viruses ended up replicating 90 percent faster than their ancestors.

My concerns are that this drug may create worst airborne viruses?

 

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by vinny