By : Rumman Ahmed
Source : http://www.marketwatch.com
Category : Patent News
--Bayer "strongly disagrees" with grant of compulsory license for Nexavar copycat
--Files appeal with India's Intellectual Property Appellate Board
(Adds background about ruling starting in sixth paragraph, Bayer comment in ninth paragraph)
BANGALORE -(MarketWatch)- Germany's Bayer AG (BAYRY, BAYN.XE) has appealed against the grant of a compulsory license by India's patent authority to a local generic drug producer for its kidney- and liver-cancer medicine, Nexavar.
Citing the high cost of the cancer drug, India's patent authority had in March forced Bayer to grant a compulsory license to Hyderabad, south India-based Natco Pharma Ltd. to sell a cheaper copy of Nexavar to ensure patients have access to the potentially lifesaving medicine.
Bayer filed its appeal at the country's Intellectual Property Appellate Board on Friday.
"We strongly disagree with the conclusions of the Patent Controller of India," Bayer said in an emailed statement Saturday. It said it will rigorously continue to defend its intellectual-property rights.
Natco Pharma declined to comment on the development.
The patent office's March ruling, the first of its kind in India, has worried foreign drug producers that the nation is unlikely to recognize internationally patented medicines in the future. Pharmaceutical companies argue they need patent protection for medicines that treat diseases like cancer, which involve years of research and are expensive to produce.
The patent authority, in its decision, noted that Bayer's patented drug sells for INR284,428, or $5,319, for a monthly supply. Natco Pharma, the generics competitor that brought the case to the patent authority, sought to sell a month's supply of the generic version of Nexavar, sorafenib tosylate, at INR8,800, or $164, the patent authority said.
Granting the compulsory license reflects Indian authorities' attempt to balance companies' intellectual-property rights against the rights of patients to get access to new and expensive medicines that are seeking patents for sale here.
Bayer, however, said India's decision "endangers pharmaceutical research."
Previously, other countries have forced foreign drug companies to issue licenses for drugs patented elsewhere. In 2007, Thailand revoked a patent for U.S. firm Abbott Laboratories' (ABT) blockbuster AIDS medicine to allow generic producers to make cheaper versions.
To further complicate efforts by big Western pharmaceutical companies seeking to develop their businesses in India, Cipla Ltd. (500087.BY) -- one of India's largest generic drug manufacturer--has said it's cutting prices on its cancer medicines by up to 75%.
Source : http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bayer-appeals-india-patent-office-ruling-2012-05-05
