infoJustice

The Indian pharmaceutical company Natco has applied for a compulsory license for sorafenib, an anticancer drug sold by Bayer under the brand name Nexavar. The price charged by Bayer is Rs 2,80,428 per month (USD 5,600), a price unaffordable to the majority of Indians in need of the drug (the compulsory license application shows that very few people in need of the medicine receive it).  Cipla produced a generic version of the drug which it sold for a tenth of Bayer’s price, but it now faces an infringement action.   Natco intends to sell the drug for even less if it receives the compulsory license.

In a recent hearing at the Patent Office, Bayer argued that it could not sell the drug at a lower cost because in needed to recoup research and development costs. Bayer was then asked to disclose the amount of money it spent on R&D for the drug.

For more information, see:

• Natco’s application for a compulsory license.
• Update on first Compulsory License application in India for cancer drug – Sorafenib. January 17, 2012.
• CH Unnikrishnan for Live Mint. Bayer Asked to Give Cost Data. January 13, 2012.
• Update on CL application on cancer drug sorafenib tosylate. November 22, 2011.

Branded v. Generic Prices for Sorafenib Tosylate (Source: donttradeourlivesaway.com)