Bayer to appeal against India's patent office order on Nexavar
Bayer AG has said it will approach the high court in Mumbai against a ruling by Intellectual Property Appellate Board that upheld the compulsory licence issued to India's Natco Pharma to make and sell a low-cost generic of
the German drug major's patented cancer drug Nexavar.
Bayer will not accept a ruling by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) in Chennai on Monday, upholding the compulsory licence granted on March 9 last year
and it will appeal against the patent office order at the high court in Mumbai, a spokesperson said.
Bayer holds the patent right for Nexavar in India until 2020 and it will continue to defend its intellectual property rights within the Indian legal system, the spokesperson said.
The IPAB ruling was in response to a petition filed by the German drug maker on May 4 last year seeking to overturn the compulsory licence issued by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks to the Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma.
In an initial judgement, the IPAB had in September last year dismissed a petition by Bayer to stay the compulsory licence.
In its final verdict on Monday, the board ruled that the government was using its rights under the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to issue compulsory licences to overcome barriers to access cheaper version of a patented drug without the consent of the company that invented it.
The IPAB also came to the conclusion that even though Bayer had obtained a patent for Nexavar in India in
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