Thailand to buy cheaper heart medication from India

Bangkok, Aug 23 (UNI) Thailand will import a cheaper generic version of a heart medication from India to substitute costly imports of the drug from western manufacturers.

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) said India's Emcure Pharmaceuticals has won the bid for supplying a cheaper variety of the blood-thinning drug Clopidogrel.

Bids had been invited to substitute the Plavix brand heart medication earlier this year, taking advantage of the compulsory licensing provision under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

Just about 20 per cent of heart disease patients in the country can currently afford the medication which costs almost 70 times the Indian generic version.

Thailand has won praise from international public health advocacy groups and United Nations agencies for using the WTO proviso for its earlier compulsory licensing of AIDS medications, which came under attack from western drug multinationals and the United States government.

UNI