One billion people around the world are unable to afford the medicines they need.
For the last six years, Novartis has been fighting over a patent for its cancer drug Glivec. The drug has earned billions for Novartis since it was approved in 2001. Almost 40 countries, including China and Russia, recognize the company's Swiss patents, but India does not. The Indian Patent Office argues that the drug is not a true novelty, but rather a variation of an existing drug.
Non-governmental organizations, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders), accuse Novartis of trying to extend its monopoly on Glivec for another 20 years by making minor changes to the drug. The price of the cancer drug Glivec costs 120,000 rupees a month (€1,700). MSF is already warning that India's role as what it calls the "pharmacy for the poor" will be in jeopardy if Novartis wins its case before the Indian Supreme Court. More than 80 percent of all the AIDS patients treated by humanitarian organizations like MSF get their drugs from factories in India.
Someone using the original drug Bayer's Nexavar will pay $5,200 per month, while using the Indian generic would only cost $160. Even that is expensive for Indians, whose average annual per capita income is only $1,514.
For the last six years, Novartis has been fighting over a patent for its cancer drug Glivec. The drug has earned billions for Novartis since it was approved in 2001. Almost 40 countries, including China and Russia, recognize the company's Swiss patents, but India does not. The Indian Patent Office argues that the drug is not a true novelty, but rather a variation of an existing drug.
Non-governmental organizations, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders), accuse Novartis of trying to extend its monopoly on Glivec for another 20 years by making minor changes to the drug. The price of the cancer drug Glivec costs 120,000 rupees a month (€1,700). MSF is already warning that India's role as what it calls the "pharmacy for the poor" will be in jeopardy if Novartis wins its case before the Indian Supreme Court. More than 80 percent of all the AIDS patients treated by humanitarian organizations like MSF get their drugs from factories in India.
Someone using the original drug Bayer's Nexavar will pay $5,200 per month, while using the Indian generic would only cost $160. Even that is expensive for Indians, whose average annual per capita income is only $1,514.
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Cancer experts have warned of a 'frightening' crisis as pharmaceutical companies abandon production of one of the most widely used chemotherapy drugs because it is not profitable enough.
Fluorouracil - also known as 5-FU - (sold under brand names Adrucil, Carac, Efudix, Efudex and Fluoroplexis)is one of the most frequently used components in chemo combinations used to treat bowel and breast cancer in the UK and worldwide.
But cancer specialists in Germany have warned that the drug has become increasingly difficult to obtain as producers turn to newer, more profitable treatments.
Pharmaceutical companies say the drug has become too cheap for them to make a profit on. One German-based former producer Medac admitted: 'The production of 5-FU is not profitable for us.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2235183/Cancer-treatment-crisis-drug-companies-stop-producing-chemotherapy-drug-profitable-enough.html
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