Generic medicines entry into the Malaysian pharmaceutical market

Abstract

Due to the rising costs of pharmaceuticals and a prevailing economic crisis, the availability of generic equivalents of trademark innovator medicines has become crucial to the Malaysian healthcare system. In 2003, Malaysia became the first country in Asia to issue a compulsory licence for the importation of generic versions of patented antiretroviral medicines, following the adoption of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha declaration on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property lights (TRIPS) agreement and public health. [1, 2]. This action was taken to increase access to affordable antiretroviral medicines, patented forms of which were highly priced. As a result of the licence, the average treatment costs per HIV-infected patient per month in public hospitals declined by up to 83% and there were widespread reductions in the prices of innovator patented antiretroviral products [1, 31-Nevertheless, issues surrounding pharmaceutical patents mean medicine accessibility and generics availability continue to be a challenge in Malaysia [2].