HC Allows CPAA to Join Bayer-Cipla Case
January 21, 2009, The Economic Times


The Delhi High Court (HC) has allowed cancer patient group Cancer Patient Aid Association (CPAA) to join the Bayer AG and Cipla case. The German drugmaker Bayer AG had sued the Indian government. Its drug regulator and domestic drug company Cipla for giving marketing approval to Cipla for Bayer’s patented cancer drug Nexavar. “The court has recognized that public interest is at stake. Therefore, CPAA should also have an opportunity
to protect the interest of cancer patient which is at risk if marketing approvals are linked with patents,” CPAA chairman and CEO Y.K. Sapru told ET. Mr Sapru said a kidney cance patient will have to shell out Rs 2.85 lakh for a monthly dosage of 120 tablets of Nexavar. Linking marketing approvals with patents would stop entry of low-cost medicines in the country, making cancer treatment unaffordable for most people in
developing countries. The court also clarified that its order is limited to Nexaver drug alone and should not be interpreted for all similar marketing generic applications, law firm Singh & Singh's Prathiba Singh representing Cipla in the case said. The HC in its interim order, last month, asked the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) not to grant marketing approval to Cipla for Bayer's patented drug Naxavar, indirectly linking marketing approvals with patents. But, multinational drugmakers say patent protection and affordability of medicines are two different things. "Allowing or encouraging violation of patent is not the right and desirable way to improve access to affordable modern medicines to the common people. Patent enforcement is the responsibility of the government. When it fails to protect it, the same gets converted into a legal issue, whereas 'affordability' is an economic issue " Organisation of Pharmacetical Producers of India (OPPI) director general Tapan Ray said.