Russian Court provides first compulsory license for production of a US drug

A Russian pharmaceutical company for the first time has received a license for the production an analogue of a drug in Russia, the rights for which are owned by a global drugmaker, reports The Pharma Letter local correspondent,

The Moscow Arbitration Court granted a compulsory license for infamous Russian drugmaker Nativa to use the patent of US biotech major Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) for the production of its Revlimid (lenalidomide) within Russia. The drug, an antitumor immunomodulator which is used to treat leprosy, tuberculosis and multiple myeloma, generated full-year 2017 sales of $8.19 billion for Celgene.

In March 2017 Celgene filed a lawsuit against Nativa with the requirement to ban the production and sales of lenalidomide to the Arbitration Court of the Moscow region. After this a counter claim was filed by Nativa, which asked the court to permit a compulsory licensing of this drug in the Russian market. According to Nativa, Russian-made lenalidomide will be "significantly cheaper than the American original."