Indian Patent Office revokes Pfizer's Sutent patent

There's another price war brewing in the anti-cancer drug market and patients have the Indian Patent Office to thank for it, reports Archana Shukla of CNBC-TV18.

The Indian Patent Office surprised the pharma sector by revoking the five-year old patent for Pfizer  's kidney cancer drug Sutent on grounds that the drug lacks any inventive step and Indian generic drug makers are scrambling to use it to their advantage.Cipla  and Natco in particular, who filed the post-grant opposition to Sutent, are looking to launch their generic version of the drug, which industry sources indicate will be priced at a whopping 90 percent discount to Pfizer's price of Rs1.96 lakh for a 45 days treatment.

With 15 other Indian generic drug makers with interests in the oncology market filing for licences. Experts say the Rs 25 crore-Sunitinib market, currently dominated by Pfizer, will see price erosions of up to 98 percent.

And that's welcome relief for kidney cancer patients, as Sunitinib has proven to increase the life expectancy of patients in advanced stages by over 15 months.

Kumar Prabhash, medical oncologist, Tata Memorial Centre, says that they (Pfizer) had quite a few patient access program, but in spite of that access to usual patients has been a problem. When a generic drug comes in the market, the access, increases. But we need to see at what cost they come in as this drug is given for months together.

But Pfizer won't give up without a fight. Jazz Tobaccowalla, MD, Pfizer India, says that we believe the decision undermines intellectual property rights in India and we will vigorously defend our basic Sutent patent.

With its appeal, Pfizer joins contemporaries Roche and Bayer, who are fighting similar rulings against their drug patents. The question is: does India's patent regime leave global drug patent holders with a bitter taste in the mouth.