# Bayer CEO Says Cancer Drug is for Insured Western Patients, not for Indians **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayer-ceo-says-cancer-drug-is-for-insured-western-patients-not-for-indians/680316 "2014-02-01T23:48:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayer-ceo-says-cancer-drug-is-for-insured-western-patients-not-for-indians/680316/121 "2014-02-08T01:50:12Z")
I have searched some more and I have found that [I am mistaken](http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/natco-to-sell-bayer-patented-cancer-drug-nexavar-112031300065_1.html). My apologies. This ruling modified the original one and that one did indeed specify that Natco was restricted from either outsourcing or exporting the product. It also instructed “Natco to supply the medicine free of cost to at least 600 needy and deserving patients every year” So my conclusion that China was the target market was mistaken. You are correct; I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayer-ceo-says-cancer-drug-is-for-insured-western-patients-not-for-indians/680316/122 "2014-02-08T02:30:44Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I have searched some more and I have found that [I am mistaken](http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/natco-to-sell-bayer-patented-cancer-drug-nexavar-112031300065_1.html). My apologies. > > This ruling modified the original one and that one did indeed specify that Natco was restricted from either outsourcing or exporting the product. It also instructed “Natco to supply the medicine free of cost to at least 600 needy and deserving patients every year” > > So my conclusion that China was the target market was mistaken. You are correct; I was wrong. Absolutely no reason to apologise. Good respectful argument is surprisingly difficult to find, even on this board. It was a pleasure! ETA: I’m also impressed by your Google Fu. I was unable to turn up this specific cite in searching, and I thought I was being pretty comprehensive. What’s your overall view on this matter now? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayer-ceo-says-cancer-drug-is-for-insured-western-patients-not-for-indians/680316/123 "2014-02-08T02:51:38Z")
I double back to my [post#6](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17067234&postcount=6), specifically > [@](#): > > … Big Pharmas could figure out a way to get their profits while also giving the med for marginal cost plus a per unit profit to the poor who otherwise would be no sale at all. > > Glaxo, after years of bad blood over costs for their AIDS meds in Africa, has seemed to learned this, maybe Bayer can too. … The ruling actually seems pretty fair and Bayer could have avoided it by thinking of the poor of the world as a “compassionate use” and either offering for slightly more than marginal cost of production or under similar terms imposed by the courts voluntarily. They would still be making more than the otherwise would without losing any of their prime market and earning good PR cred to boot. The point of the original quote in context was that India generic sales were not going to hurt them financially because India was never the market for the drug … so why not just let them have it for a small royalty or at slightly above margin without opening up the specter of compulsory licenses? ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayer-ceo-says-cancer-drug-is-for-insured-western-patients-not-for-indians/680316/124 "2014-02-08T02:52:31Z")
Also, there is this in the cite that you provided > [@](#): > > “Nexavar has a Rs 20-25 crore market in India. The entry of Natco makes it available to patients at a fraction of the original price, besides expanding the reach,” I’m assuming that’s annual revenue. So monthly revenue is approximately INR 2 crores(20 million). Which means each month Bayer’s selling to about 70 patients since they charge approximately 300,000 INR a month. I think we should consider that figure 0.5% of HCC incidence in India. Only the top 0.5% would be capable of affording what Bayer was charging in my view. Probably fewer. ETA: It is possible that the amount mentioned is potential, not actual revenue. There isn’t enough detail to be able to tell. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayer-ceo-says-cancer-drug-is-for-insured-western-patients-not-for-indians/680316/125 "2014-02-15T03:24:43Z")
Not directly related to this thread but still [of some peripheral interest](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/15/world/asia/medicines-made-in-india-set-off-safety-worries.html?hpw&rref=world&_r=0) … > [@](#): > > India, the second-largest exporter of over-the-counter and prescription drugs to the United States, is coming under increased scrutiny by American regulators for safety lapses, falsified drug trial results and selling fake medicines. … > > … The World Health Organization estimated that one in five drugs made in India are fakes. A 2010 survey of Delhi pharmacies found that 12 percent of sampled drugs were spurious. > > In one recent example, counterfeit medicines at a pediatric hospital in Kashmir are now suspected of playing a role in hundreds of infant deaths there in recent years. > > One widely-used antibiotic was found to contain no active ingredient after being randomly tested in a government lab. The test was kept secret for nearly a year while some 100,000 useless pills continued to be dispensed. > > More tests of hospital medicines found dozens more that were substandard, including a crucial intravenous antibiotic used in sick infants. > > “Some of the fake tablets were used by pregnant women in the post-surgical prevention of infections,” said Dr. M. Ishaq Geer, senior assistant professor of pharmacology at Kashmir University. “That’s very serious.” … > > … Heather Bresch, chief executive of Mylan, which has plants in both the United States and India, said regulatory scrutiny outside of the United States was long overdue. “If there were no cops around, would everyone drive the speed limit?” Ms. Bresch asked. “You get careless, start taking risks. Our government has enabled this.” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayer-ceo-says-cancer-drug-is-for-insured-western-patients-not-for-indians/680316/126 "2014-02-19T03:59:17Z")
A point a friend made to me today … Medicines like this, extremely expensive in the West and the year’s supply available for about $65K less in India, drive some degree of medical tourism. Fly first class there, get a year’s supply, fly back. My friend posits that that possibility is likely what concerns Bayer most. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayer-ceo-says-cancer-drug-is-for-insured-western-patients-not-for-indians/680316.md?page=6)