Cipla, the major Indian drug company would start making a generic version of Tamiflu, the anti-influenza drug that is reported to be in critically short supply in the face of a possible epidemic of avian flu, according to report.
Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied, chairman of Cipla reportedly said that he might face a fight in the Indian courts with Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant that holds the patent.
Roche has been under growing pressure from several countries and the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, to license generic versions of the drug, which eases flu's worst symptoms.
The company, which sells Tamiflu for $60 per treatment in the United States, has repeatedly refused to license the generic version, or even to disclose how much it makes, other than saying it plans to increase production "eightfold," the report said.
Cipla, India's third-largest drug maker, has copied dozens of Western drugs, including Lipitor and Viagra, and produces raw ingredients for Western drug companies. Its HIV drugs, approved by the World Health Organization, are used by 400,000 people worldwide.
Under Indian patent laws, which were tightened in March, Hamid said that he can sell the drug in India and in 49 other countries rated "least developed" by the United Nations.
The new law recognizes patents filed by Western companies after Jan. 1, 1995, and the Tamiflu patent in India was filed with a "priority date" of Feb. 26, 1995. Dr. Hamied said he thought the Indian government would be unlikely to fight over a 10-year-old difference of two months, especially if the lives of millions of Indians were at stake, the report added.
Although generic manufacturers cannot legally sell the patented drug in the West, all national patent laws, including those of the United States, allow governments to cancel patents during emergencies and either buy generics or force patent holders to license their formulas to rivals.