Colombia to force Novartis to lower drug prices

Colombia’s government will unilaterally force the world’s largest drugmaker Novartis to lower prices of a popular leukemia medicine in a closely followed patent dispute.

Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria told reporters that two weeks of negotiations with the Swiss company had ended without an agreement. As a result, he’s following through on a threat to declare the drug Gleevec in the public interest, the first step in breaking Novartis’ monopoly in Colombia.


Source: Associated Press