 |
Canadian Govt Under Fire for Ordering Generic Cipro
The Canadian government came under fire on Friday for ordering yet-to-be-approved generic anti-anthrax pills from a drug maker that has tried for years to shatter Bayer AG's patent on the antibiotic Cipro.
Bayer insisted on Friday that it had "millions of tablets" available in its Toronto warehouse for Cipro, which is in huge demand amid anthrax scares and cases in the United States.
"It sets a dangerous precedent to have a government bypass legislative framework and request Apotex, who to date has been prevented by court order from producing ciprofloxacin, to fill an order for 900,000 tablets," Bayer's legal counsel Neil Belmore said in Toronto.
There have been no cases of anthrax in Canada so far, and Canada's decision to ignore Bayer's patent flies in the face of a decision by US health officials to respect the patent and trust Bayer to produce adequate supplies of the antibiotic.
Bayer said on Friday that it would donate 200,000 Cipro tablets for "front-line" Canadian government workers, and would be able to meet any future demands based on its worst-case scenario planning.
The company makes the drug in Westhaven, Connecticut, where production is now running around the clock, and any tablets currently in Canada, are earmarked for Canadian use only, said Phil Blake, general manager of Bayer Inc. healthcare division.
Canadian Alliance member of parliament Chuck Strahl said the government had not declared a state of emergency allowing it to skirt patent laws, and he questioned the sense of breaking patent law to buy a non-approved drug.
"Mr. Rock (Health Minister) comes out and says, 'Don't panic, but I have to panic so badly I have to bypass the Patent Act, break the law and get someone to produce an unapproved health product because there's no panic'. It doesn't make any sense," said Strahl.
Bayer and the Canadian patent office both confirmed with Reuters that no application has been made requesting Cipro pills from Bayer, a route Health Canada must exhaust before ordering pills from generic firms.
Privately held Apotex, with C$500 million in annual sales, said Canadians have cleared pharmacy shelves of Cipro, which it promises to supply at a per-tablet cost that is 63 Canadian cents below Bayer's C$2.
"It's not a matter of dollar and cents but the matter of availability in case of an outbreak of anthrax + do we let people die because of a patent ? That is irresponsible on our part," said Apotex chief executive Jack Kay.
"A final decision will come out in a year or two, and if in fact we are found to be infringing (on their patent), we will pay them the profits we made on this order, or the loss of their profits."
Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray said discussions are ongoing with Bayer. He said he "would not be surprised if the question of reimbursing Bayer were being discussed."
In This Section
|