Thailand’s new Public Health Minister, Chawarat Charnveerakul, has said that imposing compulsory licensing (CL) is “the last mechanism” that the government would use “to help the poor get access to life-saving drugs at a fair price."… "First, we have to negotiate with drug firms to reduce the price of their drugs….” he will also pursue other policies to lower drug prices...[including] the new option of collaboration with other nations that operate CL policies in negotiating with the drugs’ patent holders…[refers to the following drug companies whose drugs are covered by CL policies: Merck, Abbott, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Roche, Genetech, Novartis]