Kerala High Court Directs Indian Central Government to Consider Compulsory Licensing of Lifesaving Breast Cancer Drug

The Kerala High Court has directed the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in India to contemplate the compulsory licensing of the breast cancer-saving  drug Ribociclib.

Ribociclib is currently not manufactured in India and thus prohibitively high priced. In a recent hearing petitioned by a retired bank employee diagnosed with breast cancer, the petitioner detailed the monthly costs associated with her treatment and argued that if the medicine is manufactured in India, the cost will come down substantially and will become affordable for her and other patients suffering from breast cancer.

Currently enjoying a patent monopoly, Ribociclib cannot be manufactured in India without the consent of the patent holder. In the face of an alarming rise in breast cancer fatalities, the Court directed the DPIIT to take up a previously submitted, but still pending, representation "and pass a reasoned order thereon after consultation with the other authorities within four weeks.”