Thailand and Brazil collaboration fears

The two "troublemakers" on the global intellectual property rights scene in recent weeks, Brazil and Thailand (Marketletters passim), have agreed to "cooperate on health development," as well as on the manufacture of prescriptions drugs and vaccines.

Given the ongoing problems for the drug industry from both governments exploiting the letter of the World Trade Organization's agreement on Trade-Related on Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), coordinated action on future compulsory licenses, or even the mere threat of them, is bound to be unwelcome.

At the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, the Brazilian representative called on the World Health Organization's Director General, Margaret Chan, to take a more "proactive" role in supporting the use of emergency measures by developing countries to overturn drug patents. At the same gathering, a Thai representative complained of "weak" leadership by the WHO on the issue of IPRs.