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Mar 19, 2013 - Mar 21, 2013, Barcelona, Spain

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Merck Patent the Latest Casualty in India's Branded Drugs War

India has revoked yet another drug company's patent, this time for an asthma drug patented by Schering Corp, later bought by Merck



The challenge was brought by domestic generics firm Cipla, known for challenging the patents of Western drug companies. The patent was to do with the aerosol suspension formulation of the drug containing the molecules mometasone furoate, formoterol and heptaflouropropane, and it was unknown whether Merck markets this drug under a specific brand name in India.

The Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs T. V. Madhusudan revoked Merck's patent based on the fact that "the sole process claim [...] does not describe any inventive feature". This is the latest in a string of patent revokations by the Indian Patent Office, a sign that the country is serious about waging war on the cost of branded drugs. In October, Dr G N Singh, the Drug Controller General of India, stated that “we want to gradually move towards a future where we will not issue any brand or trade names. We are going all out to push generic drugs solely for the benefit of the public".

Earlier in the year India revoked Pfizer Inc's patent on cancer medication Sutent, and an Indian patent appeals board overturned Roche Holding AG's patent on Hepatitis C drug Pegasys, as both were accused of not being inventive enough. Also this year, the Patent Office issued a compulsory license permitting Hyderabad generics firm Natco Pharma to sell the cancer treatment Nexavar over 30 times cheaper than the price set by patent-holder Bayer Corporation.

Generic medicines account for over 90 percent of drug sales by value in India, and the recent challenges to intellectual property look to be a fixture of India's landscape from now on. Add to this China and South Korea's recent efforts to bring prices down for their citizens using fixed-price Drug Reimbursement Lists, and it becomes clear that big pharma’s current pricing strategy could need some serious revision.



eyeforpharma Barcelona

Mar 19, 2013 - Mar 21, 2013, Barcelona, Spain

Put the all-powerful customer at the centre.