Natco, which successfully managed to reduce prices of Bayer’s cancer drug Nexavar by 97% through the country’s first compulsory licence recently, is headed for another major confrontation. This time the tussle is with drug MNC Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) over Dasatinib, a crucial medicine used in chronic myeloid leukemia, and is expected to set yet another precedent for the Indian generics industry fighting against patent rights of MNCs. Natco’s version of the drug costs around Rs 9,000 a month as against BMS’ price of nearly Rs 1.5 lakh.
