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Mumbai, March 19: Delhi High Court today declined to restrain Cipla Ltd from manufacturing and selling the generic version of Hoffman-La Roche's lung cancer drug Tarceva.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company had approached the court after it found that Cipla was planning to launch a generic version of Tarceva in India and export the same to various countries.

The interim order is good news for many of those suffering from lung cancer as they can buy the generic drug at one-third the price charged by Roche. While the generic version will cost about Rs 1,600 per tablet, the price of Roche’s patented version is around Rs 4,800.

Passing the interim order, Justice S. Ravinder Bhatt, however, directed Cipla to maintain accounts of sales figures for the calculation of damages to be awarded if Hoffmann finally wins the case.

It is believed that the Swiss drug maker could even approach the Supreme Court.

After considering the huge difference in prices of the two products, Delhi High Court said the drug should be available in the market for the benefit of patients.

The court was of the view that the balance had to be tilted in favour of the people.

The tablet formulation of erlotinib is sold by Roche under the trademark and name Tarceva, claiming to benefit patients suffering from advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

The Swiss company had applied for a patent in respect of the drug and its process and the same was granted by the Controller General of Patents, Trademarks and Designs, New Delhi in February 2007, the petition stated.

The drug as well as the process of its manufacture is patented according to the provisions of the Patent Act1970.