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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | IPAB dismisses Bayer's stay plea in Nexavar case

IPAB dismisses Bayer's stay plea in Nexavar case

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published Published on Sep 18, 2012   modified Modified on Sep 18, 2012
-The Economic Times

MUMBAI: In a victory to generic drugmakers, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) of Chennai has dismissed German pharma major Bayer's plea, seeking a stay on the Compulsory Licence issued to Hyderabad-based drugmaker Natco.

The Compulsory Licence (CL) issued by the Controller of Patents in March this year allowed Natco to make and sell a generic version of Nexavar - used for treating liver and kidney cancer - at less than 3% of the cost charged by the German company.

"We are yet to see the copy of the order, and cannot comment on the ruling," said M Adinarayana, company secretary of Natco.

The German company was understandably disappointed. "We are disappointed with the decision to reject the stay petition. We will rigorously continue to defend our intellectual property rights which are a prerequisite for bringing innovative medicines to patients," said a BayerBSE -0.15 % spokesperson.

"The order of the Patent Controller of India (the office that issued the licence) damages the international patent system and endangers pharmaceutical research," he added.

Bayer is now going to focus on the more contentious issue of whether the CL granted by the patent office of Mumbai is valid or not, and the case may drag on for a while.

Justice Prabha Sridevan of IPAB rejected Bayer's petition on the grounds that the company did not make prime facie case for the grant of stay. It also said that if the stay is granted, "it will definitely jeopardise the interest of the public who need the drug at the later stage of the disease, since Bayer has admitted that this drug improves the quality of life".

"The product is an important cancer drug and getting a stay was important for Bayer because it would have given them some time to think about their future strategy," said Aliasgar Dholkawala, a specialist in patents and trademark in law firm Wadia Ghandy and Co.

"In that sense, this order is a blow to the company on the legal front, if not on the monetary front," he added.

Compulsory Licence is a patent system under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) where a government allows a company to manufacture a patented drug without the consent of the innovator company.

In March this year, India granted its first-ever CL, allowing Natco to sell a generic version of the cancer drug at 8,800 for a month's therapy, and pay 6% royalty to Bayer on the total sales.

India is in the middle of raging patent battle, where domestic drugmakers are locked in a bitter legal battle with multinationals over their patented products.

Last week, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of Cipla regarding a patent infringement suit filed Swiss drugmaker Roche over its cancer drug Tarceva, while another Swiss drugmaker Novartis is awaiting an important ruling from the Supreme Court over its cancer drug Glivec. 

The Economic Times, 18 September, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/healthcare/biotech/pharmaceuticals/ipab-dismisses-bayers-stay-plea-in-nexavar-case/articleshow/1644217


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