Natco Pharma Files Application Seeking Compulsory License For COVID Drug Baricitinib

Indian generic drug manufacturer Natco Pharma Limited has filed an application before the Controller of Patents seeking compulsory license to produce the drug ‘Baricitinib’ which is used for treatment of COVID-19. Natco filed application under Section 92(1) read with 92(3) of the Patents Act seeking compulsory license to produce ‘Baricitinib’ at an affordable rate amid the second wave of the COVID pandemic. Section 92 is a special provision in the Patents Act empowering the Patent Controller to issue compulsory license to any interested person to manufacture a patented drug to meet a public health emergency. In the application filed before the Mumbai branch of the Patents Controller, Natco says that patent of ‘Baricitinib’ was granted to a company named Incyte Holdings Corporation in 2018. Natco says that the present production rate of ‘Baricitinib’ – which is approved for emergency use in India along with Remdesivir- is not adequate to meet the demands of surging COVID cases, and that vast majority of Indians cannot afford its expensive price.