Compulsory Licensing and Interest of the Inventor
"Most patented cancer drugs cost $5,000-6,000 a month. How many patients in India, where there is no public insurance facility, can afford these prices?" According to section 84 of the Indian Patents Act, 1970, a Compulsory License (CL) can be issued if the patented drug is unavailable, unaffordable or not supplied properly. With Compulsory License domestic companies can manufacture and market generic versions, paying a royalty to the patent holder company Last year, Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma had won the first ever CL to manufacture its generic version of Bayer's patent-protected anti-cancer drug, Nexavar. With the licence, Natco sold the drug at Rs 8,880 for a pack of 120 tablets, a month's therapy, as against Rs 2.8 lakh, the cost at which Bayer sells Nexavar. Recently, Government's decision to issue compulsory licences (CLs) for three more patented cancer drugs has joggled the multinational pharmaceutical companies. CLs ar