Colombia: Government looks to strip away Novartis’ monopoly

Colombian health Minister Alejandro Gaviria is expected to formally request market regulators SIC to remove the exclusivity license granted to drug-makers Novartis for a legal monopoly on the sale of Gilvec Imatin B, a drug used to treat various kinds of cancer and leukemia. In doing so, the minister revives an old argument between Colombian health authorities and the Swiss multinational over its Intellectual Property rights.

Four years ago, an SIC resolution denied Novartis the exclusive patent on the chemical. However, the company appealed the decision before the State Council, which finally granted the exclusivity license in 2012.

“We were proposing to buy the supply at 140 pesos per milligram… Novartis Labs sent a communiqué to the Health and Social Protection Ministry, stating they refused to enter into negotiations and rejecting the proposal by the Ministry”. For this reason, Gaviria has asked the SIC to once again remove the exclusive license which currently bars Colombian labs to churn out generic versions of the product. The SIC has within its powers the ability to remove this license, stripping Novartis of its monopoly protection, by invoking a need for internal competition to lower consumer prices.

Full Content: El Colombiano

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