Natco to take on Bayer on cancer drug Nexavar

Generic pharmaceuticals maker Natco Pharma is gearing up to take on German healthcare giant Bayer AG.

Natco, which is keen to make cancer drug sorafenib tosylate —- innovated by Bayer and sold under the brand name Nexavar —- in India, is likely to seek the help of local authorities for reining in the German company for granting it a licence to manufacture the drug in order to bring down its costs in the country.

According to sources familiar with the developments, Natco’s efforts would significantly reduce the cost of the drug from Rs3 lakh now to about Rs10,000.

“There are provisions to make the drug affordable to the Indian population and the company is ready to make use of all these provisions,” a source said.

According to Indian regulations, a company keen on making a drug in India should first seek the innovator’s approval for grant of a licence and then wait for the patent to expire.   

Natco has already written to Bayer, asking it to grant a licence to manufacture the drug in India.

However, the German company had responded and informed that the licence would not be granted, a company official said.

Following this, the company wants to make use of the Indian laws to compel Bayer to grant the licence. Once the product patent expires, the company would ask the government to allow it to make the generic drug to make it affordable to the Indian population.

The compulsory licensing provisions are expected to give an edge to Natco over other companies to make the drug locally.

Though not willing to disclose the plan of action, Rajiv Nannapaneni, the COO of Natco, told DNA, “We will be eligible for writing to the government on compulsory licensing after March. We will decide what to do after that.”

Natco’s move to rope in the government to make a foreign drug company grant the licence is expected to set a precedent.

“It would definitely be of great concern to foreign drug companies. For Indian companies, particularly those focusing on the domestic market, the provisions would help bring several products into their fold. It would also benefit the patients of critical illnesses,” another pharma industry source said.