[Pharm-policy] BMS, Pfizer ask CIPLA for time to respond to voluntary license request

[James Love]

http://www.economictimes.com/today/09comp01.htm
  
 
  Friday Feb 09 2001 
  
BMS, Pfizer ask for time to consider Cipla offer

Gauri Kamath 
MUMBAI 
TWO MULTINATIONAL pharmaceutical companies have asked Cipla for more
time to consider its offer to sell cheaper versions of their anti-AIDS
drugs in exchange for royalty payments. 

Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer, both American drug majors, have said
they had to consider the offer that Cipla made to them in December last
year. Cipla had requested a reply by January 25, 2001. 

Cipla had suggested that it would supply cheaper versions of certain
patented retroviral and anti-fungal drugs administered to persons
suffering from HIV or fullblown AIDS in different parts of the world
where these companies had product patents and where AIDS was rampant. 

Currently, these drugs are beyond the reach of most victims as they are
priced at a huge premium by drug companies to recover research costs.
The drugs in question are didanosine, stavudine and nevirapine patented
to BMS and fluconazole patented to Pfizer. 

In exchange for the freedom to sell these drugs, Cipla is willing to pay
a royalty of up to 5 per cent of net sales to the patent holders. This
was expected to at least partly compensate them for the loss of profits
to competition, a primary reason why these MNCs have been blocking the
entry of cheaper generic versions into AIDS-intensive countries like
South Africa. 

“They have asked for more time,” said Amar Lulla, director, Cipla a Rs
760 crore company that excels in making generic versions of patented
drugs and selling them at more affordable rates. 

However, two other companies to whom Cipla had shot off similar letters
British drug company GlaxoSmithKline, and the German company Boehringer
Ingelheim have not responded to Cipla’s offer yet. 

Cipla in the meantime has gone ahead with making its drugs available to
Medicins Sans Frontieres a non-governmental organisation at $350 per
year per patient, a considerable discount to the ruling market price. 

MSF will distribute these drugs free to patients. The company said it
will also start selling drugs to governments at $600 per year per
patient which is $400 less than the price charged by MNCs, media reports
said.