common form of liver cancer, in October 2007, and FDA approval for this indication followed in November 2007. In November 2009, the UK's National Institute of Clinical Excellence declined to approve the drug for use within the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, stating that its effectiveness (increasing survival in primary liver cancer by 6 months) did not justify its high price, at up to £3000 per patient per month. In Scotland the drug had already been refused authorization by the Scottish Medicines Consortium for use within NHS Scotland, for the same reason. In March 2012, the Indian Patent Office granted a domestic company, Natco Pharma, a license to manufacture generic sorafenib, bringing its price down by 97%. Bayer sells a month's supply, 120 tablets, of Nexavar for. Natco Pharma will sell 120 tablets for , while still paying a 6% royalty to Bayer. The royalty was later raised to 7% on appeal by Bayer. Under the Patents Act, 1970 and the World Trade Organisation TRIPS Agreement, the government can issue a compulsory license when a drug is not available at an affordable price. Society and culture Nexavar controversy In January 2014, Bayer's CEO Marijn Dekkers allegedly stated that Nexavar was developed for "Western patients who can afford it, not for Indians". However, Dekkers actually never said this. In fact, his words were misquoted and the context was omitted. A kidney cancer patient would pay $96,000 (£58,000) for a year's course of the Bayer-made drug, whereas the cost of the Indian version of the generic drug would be around $2,800 (£1,700). Research Lung In some kinds of lung cancer (with squamous-cell histology) sorafenib administered in addition to paclitaxel and carboplatin may be detrimental to patients. Ovarian cancer Sorafenib has been studied as maintenance therapy after ovarian cancer treatment and in combination with chemotherapy for recurrent ovarian cancer but did not show results that led to approval of the drug for these indications. Brain (recurrent glioblastoma) There is a phase I/II study at the Mayo Clinic of sorafenib and CCI-779 (temsirolimus) for recurrent glioblastoma. Desmoid tumor (aggressive fibromatosis) A study performed in 2008 showed that Sorafenib is active against aggressive fibromatosis. This study is being used as justification for using sorafenib as an initial course of treatment in some patients with aggressive fibromatosis. A phase III clinical trial is testing the effectiveness of sorafenib to treat desmoid tumors (also known