-The Times of India Medicines in India may not be sold under brand names in the near future. In its biggest move to push generic drugs and do away with brand names, the Union health ministry has ordered states to stop issuing licence for the manufacture or sale of drugs on the basis of their brand name. All pharmaceutical firms applying for licence to market or manufacture fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs will...

-The Indian Express The government’s proposal to price-control certain drugs will create more problems than it will solve From clothes to cars, prices of consumer products the world over are determined taking into account input costs, margins and competition, popularly called the cost-based pricing system. Departing from this sound, fair, tried and tested principle of commerce, the government’s new drug pricing policy, approved by the Group of Ministers headed by Sharad Pawar,...

-IANS Protecting the interest of the common man, the Supreme Court Wednesday told the government not to disturb the existing retail price mechanism of drugs under the price control order while finalising the list of essential medicines. The judges observed that the prices of the drugs were so high that it left the patient with the option of either to die or buy medicines by selling one's land or ornaments. "The common man...

-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...

-The Telegraph Swiss pharma company Novartis today told the Supreme Court that if it gets an Indian patent on its anti-cancer drug Glivec, it would continue giving free drugs to 85 per cent patients till 2018 provided prices were left untouched. But the court described its scheme of classifying people on the basis of their incomes as “too complicated” and again urged the company to reduce prices. Whatever the scheme, the end result...