Canada reverses course on Cipro

Health Canada announced Monday that it will purchase 1 million tablets of Cipro ciprofloxacin from Bayer (FSE:BAYG) and will cancel an order with Apotex ( Weston, Ontario) for generic ciprofloxacin. Backing down from a plan to disregard BAYG's Cipro patent, Health Canada stated it "recognizes the validity of Bayer Inc.'s Cipro patents and the fact that Bayer Inc. is the only Canadian manufacturer holding a notice of compliance that establishes the safety and efficacy of Cipro." Bayer has committed to supply 1 million Cipro tablets within 48 hours upon request from Health Canada for the country's emergency bio-defense stockpile and Canada said it has assured the company "of its commitment to purchase all supplies of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride from Bayer Inc. during the period of patent exclusivity." The Canadian government also will pay Apotex for the 900,000 doses of cipofloxacin it ordered last week, but the company will not manufacture the drug.

BAYG has committed to provide the U.S. government with 200 million Cipro tablets over the next 60 days, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson told a congressional committee on Tuesday. Thompson added that he was scheduled to negotiate with the company over the price and terms for Cipro on Tuesday afternoon. If BAYG is not capable of fulfilling its commitment, or is unwilling to provide Cipro at an acceptable price, Thompson said he would ask Congress for authority to purchase generic ciproflaxin from other companies. Government attorneys have determined that an act of Congress would be required to set aside BAYG's Cipro patent without having to pay substantial financial penalties to the company, he said. ...