SC: Can med for rare disorder SMA be made available at ‘lower price in India’

CAN the medicine for treatment of rare disorder spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) be made available at lower price in India if it is supplied to the neighbouring countries? The Supreme Court has sought to know from the manufacturer of the drug, Roche.

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A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti sought to know the response of the drug manufacturer after it was told by the counsel, appearing for a 24-year-old woman suffering from a Group III rare disease SMA, that the drug was being sold at a cheaper rate by M/s. F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, the drug manufacturer then in India.