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An Indian court is to issue a landmark judgment in the coming weeks after German drug company Bayer appealed a decision to over-rule its patent on the cancer drug sorafenib (marketed as Nexavar) so that a local producer could make a much cheaper version.
India's patent controller issued a compulsory licence in March to local company Natco, which has since made the kidney and liver cancer drug sorafenib tosylate for $175 (£110; €139) per month, 97% less than the cost of sorafenib.
The compulsory licence-the first in India since patent laws were introduced in 2005-was granted to the request of Natco and considered to be in the interests of public health in India where cancer is a growing problem. Natco is paying a 6% royalty on sales to Bayer.
But Bayer appealed the ruling, arguing that patents must be protected to allow drug companies to keep developing innovative medicines. India's Intellectual Property...