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15 October 2013Asia

Bayer takes another swipe at Nexavar compulsory licence

Bayer has appealed against the Indian Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB)’s compulsory licence (CL) order that allows domestic generic maker Natco Pharma to market its own version of liver and kidney cancer drug Nexavar, this time at the Mumbai High Court.

In March this year the IPAB rejected Bayer’s first appeal against the order, agreeing with the Indian Controller of Patents’ decision that Bayer had not made the drug available at an affordable price in India.

“These proceedings are neither against the inventor, nor against the compulsory licence applicant, but purely based on public interest,” Justice Prabha Sridevan wrote in the March 2013 order.

Natco received India’s first ever compulsory licence to market Nexavar in March 2012. Under the terms of the licence, the court ordered that Natco pay Bayer a 6 percent royalty, which was increased to 7 percent after Bayer’s first challenge.

According to the Economic Times, the case hearing has been adjourned to October 29.

A spokesperson for Bayer told LSIPR: “We can confirm that we are currently pursuing the case at the Mumbai High Court as we strongly disagree with the conclusions of the [IPAB].

“The order of the [IPAB] weakens the international patent system and endangers pharmaceutical research.”

Bayer added that it has had a “Patient Access Program” in place since launching Nexavar in India in 2008, which reduces the cost of monthly treatment with Nexavar to about a 10th of the regular pharmacy price for the complete duration of treatment.

Ranjna Mehta-Dutt, a partner at Remfry & Sagar in New Delhi, said that if Bayer is unsuccessful in its second bid to revoke the compulsory licence, the next option would be to move a special leave petition before the Supreme Court.

She added that the possibility of Bayer lowering the price of the drug had been discussed before the controller during the original CL proceedings and before the IPAB while seeking stay on the controller’s order, however the issue was directly never further debated in the final order of the IPAB.

Natco did not respond to a request for comment.


More on this story

Big Pharma
4 March 2013   India’s patent authorities have dealt a blow to German pharma company Bayer by refusing to overturn an order forcing the company to license one of its patented drugs.
Asia
29 October 2013   A court appeal by Bayer against India’s first ever compulsory licence on its patented cancer drug will start today, October 29.

More on this story

Big Pharma
4 March 2013   India’s patent authorities have dealt a blow to German pharma company Bayer by refusing to overturn an order forcing the company to license one of its patented drugs.
Asia
29 October 2013   A court appeal by Bayer against India’s first ever compulsory licence on its patented cancer drug will start today, October 29.