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Indian generic firms Torrent Pharma, Zydus Cadila and Sun Pharma, that have launched versions of Sanofi-Aventis’ anti-obesity drug Acomplia (rimonabant) in India, seem unperturbed by the imminent launch of the drug in India.

Sanofi-Aventis has applied for a patent protection for Acomplia here.

Since a patent holder cannot block the generics already available in the market, experts opine that Sanofi-Aventis can ask for a royalty from the generic companies once it is granted patent for rimonabant. However, Indian firms are of the view that since Rimonabant is a pre-1995 molecule, they are not entitled to pay royalty to Sanofi-Aventis.

In May, Torrent and Cadila launched the generic versions of Acomplia in India, named Remoslim and Slimona respectively. Sun Pharma has also launched two drugs, Riocity and Riobec.

Ruchir Modi, VP, marketing, Torrent said, “Rimonabant was discovered by Sanofi before 1995, thus Sanofi is not entitled to obtain product patent as per the patents laws of India. Hence, the question of paying royalty to Sanofi does not arise.” Torrent Pharma is aiming to clock Rs 10 crore in sales in the first year of its launch.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=166520

How is it possible that mid-sized Indian pharmaceutical companies are already selling their own versions of diet drug rimonabant in India while the original developer of the drug, Sanofi-Aventis, still doesn't have Indian government approval to sell Acomplia?

Well, part of the answer may be that Sanofi was so focused on getting approval to sell the drug in Europe (where Acomplia went on sale last summer) and in the United States (where it still awaits regulatory action) that the French pharmaceutical giant was late in filing for marketing authorization in India.

While a Sanofi spokesperson said the company filed last summer with India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, which regulates the market authorization of new drugs as well as the standards for imported drugs, Sanofi confirmed that the Indian regulatory agency has not yet acted on Acomplia.

"It's too soon to tell what will be our strategy regarding the launch of Acomplia in India,'' a Sanofi spokesperson told Bloomberg News last week.

Given the relatively high cost of the drug -- generally somewhat more than US$100 per month -- in the dozen plus countries where Acomplia is already on sale, Sanofi may have thought the number of Indians who would be able to afford a price of this magnitude would be relatively small.

But in the meantime, Indian pharmaceutical companies that seem to have replicated Sanofi's version of the rimonabant molecule -- which apparently was never granted patent protection in India -- independently filed with the regulatory agency and received approval to sell their own versions of the drug.

With at least two companies -- Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Zydus Cadila -- already selling Rimoslim and Slimona in India for under US$6 per month, the market for rimonabant in a country that has a growing urban, middle-class obesity problem may turn out to be significantly greater than Sanofi believed.

Source: http://www.dietdrugreport.com/News/news-052707.htm