Replies to post #138615 on 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…

[DewDiligence]

India’s Competition Commission is getting tougher on foreign
companies, including those in the drug/biotech industry.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070304577395743090390020.html

The Competition Commission of India has begun an investigation of Apple Inc. for marketing the iPhone 4 in India through select mobile-phone operators, an approach that could allegedly harm other companies in the industry, a government official said late Wednesday. It was also revealed this week that the agency is investigating Google Inc. for alleged abusive behavior in online advertising in India. And the commission is targeting a wide range of industries, including cement and tire manufacturing, for alleged price fixing.

…It also wants to scrutinize a wider range of mergers and joint ventures, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, where foreign companies have been active in takeovers.

The Competition Commission started accepting cases in 2009, replacing an essentially toothless antitrust body that had been in place since 1970.

…the commission is expected to get authority soon over small mergers—a move intended to bring more scrutiny to foreign investments in the pharmaceutical sector. Though the country allows foreign companies to own 100% of Indian pharmaceutical ventures, some government officials became concerned after a spate of foreign takeovers of Indian companies in recent years, such as Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co.'s purchase of a majority interest in Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. and Abbott Laboratories' acquisition of a unit from Piramal Healthcare Ltd. [#msg-50436738].

When you look at the big picture—including such actions as compulsory licenses (#msg-73195444) and an anti-patent legal system (#msg-46626658), India is not the most hospitable place for foreign drug companies to do business.