Cancer Drug Talk May Get Shriller

Reghu Balakrishnan Friday, August 25, 2006  21:12 IST

MUMBAI: Close on the heels of the recent protests against Glivec, the $2-billion cancer drug from Novartis in India, many other essential drugs may to come under attack from patients and NGOs.

Glivec (imatinib mesylate), used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia, is priced at Rs 1.2 lakh per month even though the generic versions manufactured by Indian companies like Ranbaxy, Cipla, Natco and Hetero are available for around Rs 8,000.

Last week, cancer patients had protested in front of Novartis India's office against the company's move to challenge the rejection of its patent application for Glivec in the Madras High Court.

Similar to Glivec, a number of lifesaving drugs are unaffordable to patients on account of their exorbitant price. The drugs available for various forms of cancer in India are still unaffordable for the majority of the patients.

Swiss drug maker Roche's Mab Thera (rituximab), used for treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, costs Rs 1.2 lakh for a cycle of three weeks and the patient has to undergo treatment for six cycles. Treatment with Roche's Herceptin (trastuzumab), for breast cancer, also costs the same.

AstraZeneca's Iressa (gefitinib tablets), used against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), also costs more than Rs 1 lakh per patient, while treatment of Ovarian cancer with Bristol-Myers Squibb's Taxol (paclitaxel) costs Rs 70,000 per three-week cycle with six cycles required. On the other hand, Genetech's Avastin (bevacizumab), a first-line treatment for colorectal cancer, costs Rs 45 lakh per year.

The MNCs are selling these drugs at huge rates as there are no generic drugs available in India. The situation will worsen once the drugs are granted patents in India.  "We would do whatever is required to make the drugs available at affordable rate," Shubha Maudgal of Cancer

Patients Aid Association, a Mumbai-based cancer patients group said.

"We are in talks with the government to cut down the prices by bringing the drugs under essential drugs list."

The government is said to be exploring the possibility of making the drugs affordable by cutting down the import duty and taxes.

Meanwhile, the Madras High Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on the Glivec patent case to September 13.

source:-http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1049368