Compulsory License Granted To NATCO

The viewpoint of being able to provide cheap drugs to a population which cannot afford it has started yet another debate in the pharma sector about how drug companies should price the life saving drugs in the developing world. On March 9, 2012, the Indian generic pharmaceutical industry got a shot in the arm when Indian Patent Office, by invoking the compulsory license (CL) provisions of the Patents Act, allowed NATCO PHARMA LTD, an Indian generic drug manufacturer to manufacture and sell generic version of the blockbuster cancer drug Sorafenib Tosylate (sold as Nexavar) patented by the German health care giant, BAYER CORP. The crux of the controversy hinges on an aspect of the Indian Patents Act, where under Section 84 of the Act, any interested person can make an application to the Controller for a compulsory licence after the expiry of three years from the date of grant of the patent if reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the patented invention have