India violated WTO norms: United States

The U.S. administration accused India of infringing WTO norms by allowing Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma to produce a generic version of cancer drug Nexavar.

The administration has called India’s move an ‘egregious’ violation of WTO norms.

• For a quick recall, India for the first time India had introduced a law allowing Natco Pharma to produce and sell cancer-treatment drug Nexavar at a price, over 30 times lower than charged by its patent-holder Bayer Corporation.

The government’s Compulsory Licensing allowed Natco to sell the drug at a price not more than Rs.8, 880 for a pack of 120 tablets compared as compared to Rs.2.80 lakh per month charged by Bayer for its patented Nexavar drug.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2012