Intellectual Property Appellate Board postpones Bayer's compulsory licence appeal

NEW DELHI: India's Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has postponed German company Bayer AG's appeal against the grant of a compulsory licence of its patented drug Nexavar to Natco Pharma to September 3, a Natco official said.

In March, India issued its first ever compulsory licence allowing Natco Pharma to legally make and sell its low-cost version of the Rs 2.85 Lakh a month cancer drug Nexavar mainly on the grounds that most India's cannot afford the medicine.

Natco has been selling the drug at Rs 8,800 for a month's course and will pay a 6% royalty on sales to Bayer.

Bayer AG had demanded withdrawal of the compulsory licence arguing that a three-fourth reduction in the price of the anti-cancer drug by another Indian firm Cipla has made the permit redundant and its patent itself is vulnerable to being revoked.