India: Focus turns to pay-for-delay

Indian regulators have turned their attention to pay-for-delay agreements, making the nation the latest to scrutinize such agreements that have particular impact on the pharmaceutical industry.

According to reports, the Competition Commission of India is examining patent settlements made between foreign brand-name pharmaceutical companies and their generic counterparts in India. Reports say the probe is in response to concerns that some of those settlements may lead to cheaper, generic drugs being unavailable to consumers.

Reports say at least two patent settlements are being investigated by the CCI. One of which involves Roche’s lung cancer drug and an agreement the pharma giant made with generic drug maker Cipla. The other, reports say, involves Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, one of India’s largest generic companies, and an agreement with Merck over a diabetes drug.

Officials noted that the agreements will be probed on a case-by-case basis to determine if they resulted in anticompetitive effects.

Full content: Wall Street Journal

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