Should MNCs be allowed to sell life-saving drugs at market driven prices?

Should MNCs be allowed to sell life-saving drugs at market driven prices?

German pharma major Bayer is contemplating challenging a government order allowing Hyderbad-based manufacturer Natco Pharma to sell the generic version of its anti-cancer drug, Nexavar, for about Rs 8,880 a month, or roughly 3% of the price tag of Rs 2.8 lakh that the MNC put on its own product.

On the one hand, there is the issue of a huge social cost in a country in which a substantial percentage of a 1.3 billion-strong population cannot afford such expensive medicines. On the flip side, there is the standard MNC argument that they must be adequately compensated for the huge amounts they spend in money, time and effort to develop critical drugs.

In the meanwhile, a third dimension has crept its way into this tussle -- a parliamentary panel report has accused several top multinationals of colluding with India's drug regulator, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, to speed up approval procedures and allow some drugs banned in other countries to be sold in the Indian market.

What is your take? Are the multinationals justified in seeking a higher price for extensively-researched drugs or are they in the business just to milk hapless patients?