Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Roche seeks to thwart cross-border sales of low-priced Indian versions of Rituxan and Herceptin by giving the products new names and packaging:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577297673910205972.html

Roche is hoping the new names, which haven't been revealed and are subject to Indian approval, will prevent wholesalers from buying the Indian product and reselling it at a profit in other markets, where the new brand names won't be licensed for sale, he said. The rebranding addresses a growing headache for the pharmaceutical industry. Middlemen increasingly are snapping up cancer drugs in low-cost markets for resale in more profitable markets, such as the U.S. and Europe, even though such trade is illegal in some countries.

…It is far from guaranteed that other countries won't demand the Indian-level prices once they become public, however. Insurers and government health systems in many markets have been pushing for discounts on the expensive drugs.

…Roche's plan also partly is aimed at preventing India from demanding a so-called "compulsory license" for Roche drugs, which would allow a generic-drug maker to make less-expensive copies. Indian law gives the country's patent regulator such authority if a medicine is priced beyond patients' reach. India this month exercised the right for the first time, forcing Germany's Bayer AG to grant a compulsory license for cancer drug Nexavar…