Xtandi is a cancer drug which works for the prostate cancer stage-four patients and in India, the patent for the Xtandi drug has been rejected in 2016 on the grounds of obviousness and lack of patentable invention.
The prostate cancer is second common kind of cancer among the men worldwide and in India ranges among the top 10 kinds of cancer. In India the price for a month’s course of Xtandi i.e., four tablets is around Rs. 2.7 lakhs. The tablets work for the people who have tried every other kind of treatment including castration.
After the rejection of patent application in India the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) , who developed this drug are now fighting against the rejection of patent application in Delhi High Court. The UCLA has filed a writ in the Delhi High Court stating that for the said drug they have collaborations with big pharmaceuticals company and also the Pfizer has also given a power of attorney in the said matter. The UCLA is being represented by former Union Minister P.Chidambaram.
The said drug has been developed by using the public money by the UCLA but it plays no role in its price setting. According to the Union for affordable cancer treatment the Xtandi drug is sold at the most expensive rate in the USA than in any other developed country. The drug is priced at Rs 6.9 lakh per month in US as compared with the price of Rs. 2.7 lakh in delhi for monthly prescription. The patent application for the drug has been rejected in India and currently UCLA is fighting for the patent of the said drug in india. The drug is among the top medicines of for the treatment of prostate cancer and not having a patent in India for same is a bad news for UCLA and Pfizer.
However, UCLA has forwarded two interests; one inside the court and second outside the court. On one hand, UCLA projects itself as an aggrieved educational institution which only wants to promote its academic interest whereas on the other hand, the documents show that it is only fighting the patent battle as a proxy.
With these differing approaches inside and outside court, UCLA’s case is slated to come up in the Delhi high court in December 2017,
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