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Viewing cable 06ISTANBUL1209, PRESCRIPTION FOR TURKEY'S PHARMACEUTICALS MARKET

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06ISTANBUL1209 2006-07-03 14:13 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Istanbul
null
Dianne Wampler  07/05/2006 04:18:21 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Dianne Wampler

Cable 
Text:                                                                      
                                                                           
      
UNCLAS    SENSITIVE     ISTANBUL 01209

SIPDIS
CX:
    ACTION: ECON
    INFO:   CONS PA RAO FAS MGT PMA FCS POL DCM AMB

DISSEMINATION: ECON /1
CHARGE: PROG

VZCZCAYO508
RR RUEHAK
DE RUEHIT #1209 1841413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031413Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5397
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5305
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 2232
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS ISTANBUL 001209 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
COMMERCE FOR CRUSNACK 
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR FOR LERRION 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EINV PGOV TU
SUBJECT: PRESCRIPTION FOR TURKEY'S PHARMACEUTICALS MARKET 
 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary.  At a June 9 meeting in Istanbul, 
American pharmaceutical company directors expressed 
satisfaction that Turkey remained on the 2006 Special 301 
Priority Watch List but told Ambassador Wilson that 
inadequate patent protection and an absence of transparency 
in the GOT,s health bureaucracy continue to stymie U.S. 
market access.  Current facilitator for the Local American 
Working Group (LAWG) and Merck Director Jeff Kemprecos argued 
that the GOT,s continued reimbursement of medical costs 
related to "over the counter" generic remedies, including 
gingko products, was costing the GOT about USD 50 million a 
year and effectively limiting patient access to more 
effective innovative medicines.  At the same time, Kemprecos 
said, Turkey spent less per capita on pharmaceuticals than 
its European comparator countries.  A shift in GOT practices, 
he suggested, could result in significant additional foreign 
investment in Turkey, along the lines of the "Irish miracle," 
with U.S. companies choosing to produce drugs here.  End 
summary. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Managing directors and representatives of 
Schering-Plough, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pfizer, Johnson & 
Johnson, Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott, Pfizer and 
Wyeth Laboratories discussed with Ambassador Wilson the 
challenges facing American pharmaceutical companies in 
Turkey, including IPR violations and potential molecular 
theft, the absence of regulatory transparency and efficiency, 
and unfair competitive practices and limited patient access 
to innovative medicines due to lack of funding.  Despite 
steady growth in the dollar value of all OTC and prescription 
medicines sold in Turkey over ten years, LAWG facilitator 
Jeff Kemprecos said these issues continue to thwart industry 
growth in Turkey. 
 
 3.  (SBU)  Lilly Managing Director Jeremy Morgan asked that 
the United States continue to use its diplomatic leverage 
with Turkey to press for improvement in IPR protection, 
regulatory transparency, and the dropping of arbitrary 
restrictions in manufacturing, noting that this could lead to 
major pharmaceutical investment capital for Turkey.  Citing 
the Irish example, Morgan and Kemprecos argued that Turkey 
has the potential to become a major manufacturing point for 
European and Middle East markets.  As it was, some of the 
problems in the Turkish pharmaceuticals market lead directly 
to the loss of USD 50 million annually in health care 
expenditures on useless product.  A shift to innovative and 
proven prescription drugs, they said, is in the long-term 
interest not only of patient health, but of controlling 
health care costs. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Ambassador Wilson noted the importance of staying 
the course on Turkey,s macro-economic progress and the need 
to implement further economic reforms; one of the IMF,s 
areas for improvement had been Turkey,s subsidies for 
consumer health expenditures.  He added that part of the U.S. 
approach on issues of importance to the pharmaceutical 
industry would be to work closely with the Europeans. 
 
5. (SBU)  Ambassador also explained the mission's efforts on 
behalf of U.S. pharmaceutical companies in Turkey. 
Currently, embassy officials are working closely with their 
EU counterparts to coordinate our messages about the 
importance of data protection.  In addition to frequent 
meetings with the MOH, who has ultimate control over data 
protection and pricing and reimbursement decisions, we also 
discuss the issue periodically with officials from the 
Foreign Trade Undersecretariat (FTU), who is responsible for 
ensuring that Turkey meets its international, including WTO 
and TRIPS, obligations.  We are currently supporting a 
dialogue between company representatives and FTU officials 
that would not only provide the opportunity to discuss their 
concerns but also to present their vision for enhanced 
investment in Turkey if these problems are eliminated.  At 
the same time, Ambassador alsocautioned that Turkey has 
already entered a pre-election political mode; as in the 
U.S., governments during these periods are often distracted 
or focused on addressing constituent demands.  The Ambassador 
counseled the pharmaceutical directors to position their 
companies and industry now for post-election progress in a 
more pragmatic political atmosphere. 
 
JONES 
JONES