NDIA : Controller General Overrules Bayer, Allowing Generic Drug
►http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15682
India’s government on Monday authorized a drug manufacturer to make and sell a generic copy of a patented Bayer cancer drug, saying that Bayer charged a price that was unaffordable to most of the nation.
The decision by the official in charge — the controller general of patents, designs and trademarks — marked the first granting of a so-called compulsory license of a patented drug in India. Legal experts and patient advocates said it could open the door to a flood of other compulsory licenses in India and possibly in other developing countries, ushering in a new supply of cheap generic pharmaceuticals.
According to the decision, Bayer must license the drug Nexavar, or sorafenib, to Natco Pharma, an Indian company. In exchange, Natco must pay Bayer a 6 percent royalty on its net sales and has to sell the drug for 8,800 rupees ($176) a month, about 3 percent of the 280,000 rupees that Bayer charges for it in India. Natco’s drug is for use only in India, the decision said.