Cancer-treatment drug Nexavar will soon be available at Rs. 8,880 per pack of 120 tablets. Bayer, a German multi-national, holds the patent for Nexavar (the brand name of sorafenib tosylate), which now sells at Rs.2.84 lakh.

The way for such a huge reduction in the price is cleared with India invoking a World Trade Organisation (WTO) provision and permitting the Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma to make sorafenib tosylate, which is used to treat kidney and liver cancer.