Drug groups eye Indian legal case
Chennai may be a long way from the Leverkusen headquarters of Bayer
BAY, but the German pharmaceutical group is involved in a legal dispute in the southern Indian city that is being watched by its peers around the world.
October 02, 2012 / 12:37 IST
Chennai may be a long way from the Leverkusen headquarters of Bayer
BAY, but the German pharmaceutical group is involved in a legal dispute in the southern Indian city that is being watched by its peers around the world.
Bayer is appealing against the Indian patent controller's decision in March to override the company's monopoly on its cancer drug Nexavar, and to allow an Indian company to produce and sell the life-extending drug for just USD 173 a month - one-sixth of the USD 5,500 a month price charged by Bayer.If Bayer loses the appeal, and the court upholds the compulsory licence issued to Natco, a generics producer based in the central Indian city of Hyderabad, the precedent could encourage other Indian manufacturers to follow its lead by producing cheap generic versions of high-priced, patented drugs that are out of the reach of all but the wealthiest Indians.More News From Financial Times
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