Living costs—Crown use and the cost of pharmaceuticals

Table of contents

• Original news
• What is the background to recent controversy caused by the Kadcyla drug?
• Are there circumstances in which a patented medicine can be legally acquired from an organisation other than the patent holder?
• What are the chances of campaigners achieving this outcome? Are there precedents for successful use of PA 1977, s 55?
• What lessons can lawyers take from the NICE decision on Kadcyla?

Article summary

IP & IT analysis: Women being treated by the NHS for secondary breast cancer will soon fall victim to the withdrawal of the costly but life-prolonging drug, Kadcyla. Dr Penny Gilbert, partner at Powell Gilbert LLP, takes a look at the use of patents and Crown use, and whether a stern public mood could combine with legal redress to fix an unseemly situation.