IPAB allows Natco Pharma to sell Nexavar; stock gains

MUMBAI: The Intellectual Property Appellate Board has upheld a compulsory licence allowing Natco Pharma to manufacture and sell inexpensive copies of German multinational Bayer's anti-cancer drug priced at Rs 2.8 lakh a month.

Natco Pharma can produce Nexavar, a patented medicine used to treat liver and kidney cancers.

"The court does not decide for, or against, a company. It takes a decision based solely on public interest," Justice Prabha Sridevan, chairman of IPAB, who pronounced the ruling at a marathon six hour sitting. "The price of a drug should be seen from the point of view of the public affordability and not based on R&D expenses."

Bhaskar Narayana, Finance Director, Natco Pharma in an interview to ET Now said that company will continue to market and sell the drug post verdict. It sold Rs 14 crore worth of Nexavar drug in the past 9 months.

In March last year, India granted its first ever compulsory licence, by ordering Natco Pharma to sell the cancer drug at Rs 8,800 for a month's therapy, and pay 6 per cent royalty to Bayer on the total sales, which was disputed by Bayer.

At 10:30 a.m.; the stock was at Rs 445.65, up 4.80 per cent, on the BSE. It touched a high of Rs 475 and a low of Rs 443 in trade today.