“Bayer is committed to protecting its patents for Nexavar and will rigorously continue to defend our intellectual property rights within the Indian legal system,” Bayer added in an e-mail response to Business Standard.
On Monday, the Appellate Board upheld the compulsory licence granted to domestic firm Natco Pharma last year, against Bayer’s patented anti-cancer drug Nexavar.
The move, which allowed the Hyderabad-based company to manufacture and sell the low priced generic version of the drug, is also expected to pave way for many other generic drug makers to seek compulsory licence for other essential but expensive patented drugs in the country.
With a compulsory licence being granted on Nexavar, the price of the drug is set to come down remarkably.
While Bayer’s Nexavar was priced at Rs 280,000 a month, the compulsory licence is allowed to Natco Pharma on conditions that it will sell the medicine at Rs 8,800 for a month’s therapy, and pay seven per cent royalty to Bayer on the total sales.
The ruling has created a stir in the drug manufacturing industry worldwide.
While patient groups and health activists, along with generic developers, have applauded the decision towards making essential medicines affordable, it is seen as a blow to interest and profitability of multinational companies.
Bayer said the IPAB order “weakens the international patent system and endangers pharmaceutical research”.
Supporting Bayer’s argument, Novartis India’s Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Ranjit Shahani, also president of Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, which represents multinational drug makers, said: “There are two markets in India, but everything here is being directed towards just one of them --
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