K.M. Gopakumar
Letter sent by Kalyani Menon-Sen, Leena Menghaney, and KM Gopakumar on behalf of the Campaign for Affordable Trastuzumab
We write to you on behalf of the Campaign for Affordable Trastuzumab, a network of treatment activists, patients and public interest lawyers committed to making the breast cancer drug – trastuzumab – affordable in India. We have closely followed the misuse of patent rights and more recently the vexatious litigation of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd in India to maintain control over the market for the life saving drug (trastuzumab), thus blocking access to treatment for many women diagnosed and suffering from HER2+ breast cancer.
This letter is to express our grave concern about the intent and purpose of the “Innovation Dialog” being organised in India from November 16-22, 2014 by the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPOA).
