KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 ― The government should grant a compulsory licence (CL) to import generic versions of Remdesivir that could be effective in accelerating Covid-19 patients’ recovery, said Klang MP Charles Santiago.
He noted that the government most recently did so in 2017 when it granted the CL to bring in generic Sofosbuvir for Hepatitis C treatment while the drug was still under patent.
Charles said Remdesivir now cost US$390 (RM1,662) per vial but a generic version was a fraction of this.
“This is because the cost of producing remdesivir, a drug shown to be effective through clinical trials by shortening the patient's recovery period, has been estimated to be less than US$1 a day.
“This means the actual cost of a five-day-course is around US$5 or RM22 at the most,” Charles told reporters during a press conference at the Parliament building today.
He was referring to a treatment regime where patients receive a five-day treatment course using six vials, which is equivalent to US$2,340 per patient.
He pointed out that developing countries could cite the “government use” provision under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (an international legal agreement between all the member nations globally) to import a generic version of remdesivir from producing countries.
“Although the World Bank has classified Malaysia as an upper middle income economy, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our economy has deteriorated.
“So we should keep pushing Gilead Sciences to allow Malaysia to import Remdesivir generic drugs at a reasonable price for the benefit of Malaysian in fighting Covid-19 especially for the lower income group and those who have lost their jobs due to the outbreak in the country,” he said.
Gilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company based in the US that is also the patent holder of Sofosbuvir.
He also asserted that access to healthcare was a universal human and the government must defend its citizens' right to access affordable healthcare.
“The lives of the people should be the priority of any government and no one should die because they cannot pay for their treatment,” he added.
Earlier this year, former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said through the government use of CL, it was able to obtain the generic version of Hepatitis C drug, sofosbuvir at US$300 (RM1,225) for a 12-week course treatment down from US$11,000 (RM45,000).
Charles added that it was crucial for the government to start negotiations now in light of Covid-19 cases rising in the country.
Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 39 new Covid-19 cases, where 28 were of local transmissions.
