Mumbai, Feb 3Even as the patent row between Indian generic firms and Novartis over anti-cancer drug Glivec (imatinib mesylate) is still raging on, the Swiss pharmaceutical major has won a government decision in its favour in Thailand for the drug. The Thai government has decided not to invoke a compulsory licence (CL) for imatinb, denying Indian companies an opportunity to sell the drug in that country at rates a tenth lower than the Swiss company’s drug prices globally.
The Thai government, on January 31, decided in favour of Novartis, after the drug major agreed to provide free Glivec to patients having a household income of less than 1.7 million baht ($51,515) a year. The patented version of imatinib costs 3,600 Thai baht ($109) for a 400-mg pill. Usually a patient requires a pill a day, which costs about 1.31 million baht ($39,800) a year, while the generic versions from India will cost 150 baht ($4.50) a pill.
Veenat, Natco Pharma’s cheaper version of imatinib, costs about Rs 10,000 per month. Last year, Pune-based Emcure Pharma had bagged the order for supplying clopidogrel, the generic version of cardiac drug Plavix, following the government’s decision to invoke CL.
Experts are of the view that this strategy of MNCs will hit Indian firms badly. An intellectual property expert said, “The case in Thailand is more like differential pricing of the drug. People who cannot afford the drug can get it cheaper or free of cost, while those who can afford will get it at the market price. This will not particularly hurt Novartis, as the drug patent is still enforced and not overridden by compulsory licence.” If research based-companies start agreeing with differential pricing, it’s likely that the CL will not be invoked. And no generic company will want to sell cheaper drugs for free, as it wants to recover at least a part of manufacturing and shipping costs. Generic players, thus, stood to lose the game in such cases, he added.
It is learnt that the Thai government has decided to issue a CL for three more cancer drugs: docetaxel for treating lungs and breast cancer, which is marketed by Sanofi-Aventis as Taxotere; letrozole for breast cancer and marketed by Novartis as Femara; and erlotinib for lungs cancer and marketed by Roche as Tarceva.
