Roche to Offer Two Cancer Drugs at Reduced Prices in India

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche will be offering two of its expensive cancer drugs at reduced prices in India in order to gain a strong foothold in the market. The decision comes close on heels of rival Bayer losing out its exclusive rights to produce kidney cancer drugs in the country with the Indian government deciding that generic and cheaper versions of the drug will be produced locally in order to make sure that a large section of patients have access to the drugs.

Roche has denied that its decision to offer it two cancer drugs, Herceptin and MabThera, was based on Bayer losing out its exclusive rights with a Roche spokesman stating that it was the company’s strategy to work along with the governments of the emerging markets.

“It is part of our overall strategy in emerging markets, where we work closely with governments and payers in order to enable access to our medicines. With this strategy, we expect to significantly increase the number of patients treated with our therapies and help patients currently under treatment to continue to use our products properly”, the spokesman said.


Source-Medindia