German drug major Bayer has lost its long-running battle to get India’s first-ever compulsory licence – for its liver and kidney cancer drug Nexavar (sorafenib tosylate) – overturned...The multinational has been seeking to get the compulsory license overturned ever since, initially before the Intellectual Property Appellate Court - which upheld the compulsory license but increased the royalty rate from 6% to 7% - and subsequently at the Bombay High Court, through the issue of a Special Leave Petition. However, this month all legal proceedings have been concluded, as the Supreme Court of India backed the Bombay court’s decision to uphold the compulsory license...Bayer said it was disappointed at the Supreme Court decision. “We are analysing the order and will determine any future course of action afterwards,” said the firm in a statement...welcoming the Supreme Court decision, nongovernmental agency Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF) praised the “independence of the Indian judiciary in upholding India’s right to legislate with public health interests in mind…amidst intense ongoing US government pressure tactics being waged on India on behalf of the US pharmaceutical industry.