Roche, the world's biggest maker of cancer drugs, said it would offer 'significantly' cheaper, locally branded versions of its two cancer drugs Herceptin and MabThera by early next year

The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche plans to offer sharply discounted versions of two cancer drugs in India.

The news comes after the Indian government stripped the German drugmaker Bayer of exclusive rights to produce the kidney cancer drug Nexavar earlier this month, and licensed a local company to make a cheap, generic version, arguing that many Indians could not otherwise afford the life-saving drug.

Roche, the world's biggest maker of cancer drugs, said it would offer "significantly" cheaper, locally branded versions of its two cancer drugs Herceptin and MabThera towards the end of the year or in 2013. They will be renamed and packaged by Roche's Indian partner Emcure Pharmaceuticals.

"The scope is to enable access for a large majority of patients who currently pay out of pocket as well as to partner with the government to enable increased access to our products for people in need," said a Roche spokesman.

Monthly doses of Herceptin, for breast cancer, and MabThera, for cancers of the blood and lymphatic system, cost between $3,000 (£1,889) and $4,500 per patient at wholesale prices.

The spokesman added: "With this strategy, we expect to significantly increase the number of patients treated with our therapies and help patients currently under treatment to continue to use our products properly."

He denied that the move was prompted by the Bayer case. "Rather it is part of our overall strategy in emerging markets, where we work closely with governments and payers in order to enable access to our medicines," he said. For example, working with the Egyptian health authorities Roche introduced a second brand of its HCV medicine Pegasys in Egypt that was packaged locally. "This allowed for differential pricing, with the local brand available at a significantly reduced price enabling greater access to those in need. We are considering this approach as part of our strategy for various emerging markets."

Roche's decision will reignite the debate over whether prices for life-saving medicines should be cut in poorer countries. Several drugmakers, including GlaxoSmithKline, have already slashed their prices for HIV/Aids drugs in Africa, as well as some middle-income countries elsewhere. However, there are fears that a proposed free trade agreement between the EU and India, which could be signed by the autumn, could spell the end of cheap drugs for the developing world.