Cipla cut the price of its generic version of Bayer's cancer drug Nexavar by 75 per cent, nearly two months after India allowed another drugmaker to make a cut-rate version of the drug over Bayer's objections.

In March, India stripped Bayer of its exclusive rights to sell Nexavar, a treatment for kidney and liver cancer, granting Natco Pharma a license to sell the generic drug at Rs.8,880 ($170) for a monthly dose. Bayer sells the branded Nexavar at Rs.2.84 lakh a month.

That decision was seen as setting a precedent that could extend to other treatments, including modern HIV/AIDS drugs, in a major blow to global pharmaceutical firms.

Cipla said it would sell Nexavar at Rs.6,840 for a monthly dose.

Affordable

“There was no directive from the government ... We have decided to make the drug affordable to more patients,'' Cipla Chairman Y. K. Hamied told Reuters over the telephone.

Separately, Cipla is fighting a patent infringement suit by Bayer over generic Nexavar in an Indian court.

Lung cancer drug

Along with generic Nexavar, Cipla also cut the price of lung cancer drug and brain tumour drug between 60 and 75 per cent, Mr. Hamied said.

Cipla, the No. 2 drugmaker by market share in India, does not expect the price cut to hit its revenues as the products have low volumes.......Read More

Source: The Hindu