Compulsory licenses for ARVs not as straightforward as some suggest

It has recently been announced that Canada will finally begin exporting generic drugs under a compulsory license to Rwanda. The drug in question is an ARV called Apo-TriAvir, made by Apotex of Canada.

Five years after the compulsory license was first signed, the first pill might now start rolling off the production line.

 

The minister of health in Rwanda, in justifying the award to Canada, said "[we] could have imported generics from elsewhere [but] we wanted to bring Apotex in as a quality generic manufacturer."

 

Neither Apotex nor Rwanda mention that this has been made possible by the Government of Canada's $100 million subsidy.

What all this goes to show is that the production of high quality generic medicines that meet acceptable regulatory standards is a costly and time-consuming business.  As Apotex found out the hard way, it's difficult to turn a profit even with a generous government subsidy and guaranteed buyer.

Why, then, do health activists continually push compulsory licenses as the answer to the health problems of the developing world?  Surely it's nothing to do with ideology?