Even as Bayer is bracing up to challenge the IPAB's decision to uphold India’s first ever compulsory license on Nexavar in the Mumbai High Court, the international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has urged the German drug major not to appeal this decision.
“We urge Bayer to address the reality that their prices are too high and not to appeal this decision. It is not the use of a compulsory license that should be challenged, but the continued pursuit of excessively high profits over public health needs,” said Leena Menghaney, India Campaign Manager, MSF Access Campaign.
In yet another landmark decision, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), Chennai on March 4 had upheld India’s first ever compulsory license (CL) issued on March 9, 2012 to Hyderabad-based generic drug company Natco for manufacturing and marketing generic copies of Bayer's kidney and liver cancer drug sorafenib tosylate (Nexavar).
The IPAB decision confirms that the Indian patent office is able to use all the means legally at its disposal to check the abuse of patents and open up access to affordable versions of patented medicines. Most importantly, the decision means that the way has been paved for compulsory licenses to be issued on other drugs, now patented in India and priced out of affordable reach, to be produced by generic companies and sold at a fraction of the price, Menghaney in her statement said.
Welcoming the IPAB decision, Menghaney expressed the hope that in the near future, compulsory licenses will be issued for the newest drugs to treat HIV and affordable generic versions will be available not only in India, but in the rest of the developing world. As with more people living with HIV, tuberculosis or hepatitis need to be switched to more expensive, effective treatments, the need for affordable generic versions of these medicines will be critical to maintain the numbers of people with these diseases staying alive and healthy.
Earlier, the patent on the cancer drug sorafenib tosylate was granted to Bayer in March 2008. After that the generic company Natco applied for a CL in July 2011, which was granted by the Indian Patent Controller in March 2012.