Cipla has slashed the price of the generic version of Bayer's renal cancer drug Nexavar by 75 percent and will sell it at Rs 6,840 for a monthly dose, according to a Reuters report.
The Union Government stripped Bayer of its exclusive rights to sell Nexavar in the country as early as March this year, granting Natco Pharma a licence to sell the generic version at about $ 175 (Rs 9,275) for a monthly dose, noted the report. Bayer sells the product at $ 5,500 (Rs 2.91 lakh) a month in India and said at the time that it was disappointed with India's decision.
'There was no directive from government. We have decided to make the drug affordable to more patients,' Cipla Chairman YK Hamied is quoted as saying by the report. Separately, Cipla is fighting a patent infringement suit by Bayer over generic Nexavar in an Indian court, the report pointed out.
Along with generic Nexavar, Cipla also substantially cut the prices of lung cancer drug gefitinib and brain cancer drug temozolomide, Hamied added.
