Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Thais have been gripped by fear. For months, these worries -- which have been intensified during the kingdom's third wave of infections -- have been about the government's slow vaccination rollout. Now the public is getting more anxious, following concerns over a possible shortage of favipiravir, an important medicine used to treat Covid-19 patients with moderate to severe symptoms.
The alarm over the potential favipiravir shortage was raised this week by members of the Mor Chonnabote (Rural Doctors) club -- a respected association of medical doctors. The antiviral medicine is effective in treating lung infections.
Such a warning warrants a serious response. The medicine is crucial: Thai doctors use it to cure lung infections, which are a major cause of death among Covid-19 patients. A shortage of this medicine could result in more Covid deaths.
As of now, the government has ensured there is enough favipiravir. Since January 2020, Thailand has been importing the medicine, mostly from Japan, to treat Covid-19 patients for 125 baht per tablet. Covid-19 patients need 40–70 tablets throughout their treatment cycle, depending on their condition.
Yet, the stock has been quickly drying up as the number of infections in the kingdom continues to rise day by day from new infection clusters. The Public Health Ministry last month imported 2 million tablets, and another 2 million is expected to arrive this month. The ministry believes supplies are enough for this year.
But the pandemic is a long-haul war, and a worst-case scenario could happen at any time because the virus mutates. There are now new variants of Covid in Thailand that are said to cause faster and more severe lung infections among patients. Some of these patients have succumbed in a just short period after being infected.
As of now, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO), under the health ministry, is producing its generic formula of favipiravir. It plans to register the medicine with the Food and Drug Administration sometime this month. After the registration, the local, generic version of this medicine will be available at 50% of the cost.
What the government must do is ensure there are no intellectual property issues with the local formula. Even though the medicine is not patented in Thailand and the GPO can produce generic medicines, some observers are concerned about a potential patent issue in the future, given an attempted patent registration by Fujifilm-Toyama Chemical, the producer of favipiravir.
Reports are saying the Japanese company has tried to patent two "preparations" of favipiravir -- tablet and powder forms -- with Thailand's Department of Intellectual Property (DIP). However, the agency on Thursday said it turned down the registration request as the DIP does not recognise the two "preparations" as an innovation. To the kingdom, this means the green light for the GPO to produce the medicine for local use. Yet, under the patent law, the Japanese pharmaceutical firm is allowed to resubmit patent registration documents until August.
The government needs to allay public fears. It must support the GPO and ensure there will be enough tablets for every patient at an affordable cost.
Members of the public can protect themselves by wearing masks, washing hands and observing social distancing while waiting for vaccines. Yet, Covid-19 patients cannot wait -- medicine shortages are a matter of life or death.