P H Kurian

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A brief biography

August 28, 2026: The Times of India

P H Kurian, a Kerala cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1986 batch, is best known for being the man who issued India’s first-ever compulsory license for the manufacture of the cancer drug Sorafenib tosylate, which was till under patent in March 2012. This historic decision, which allowed the generic manufacture of the drug for treatment of advanced kidney and liver cancer, made the life-saving drug accessible by bringing down the price from Rs 2.8 lakh to just Rs 8,800 for a month’s treatment regimen of 120 tablets.

Kurian, who retired as the additional chief secretary of Kerala on Jan 31, 2019, passed away Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram.

Kurian’s decision on the compulsory license was issued during his tenure as India’s Controller General of Patents from 2009 to 2012. His 68-page airtight ruling in favour of the Indian company Natco, which had applied for a compulsory license to manufacture Sorafenib tosylate with the brand name Nexavar, for which the German multinational, Bayer, held the patent, shook up the global pharmaceutical world. It meticulously established Bayer’s exorbitant pricing and exploitative marketing strategies and firmly set a precedent for using the flexibilities available in Indian patent law to safeguard public health. Though no further compulsory licenses have been issued since due to immense pressure from Big Pharma, Kurian’s bold decision was a global victory for the movement to make high-cost essential medicines accessible.

Born on Jan 20, 1959, Kurian was pursuing research at Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru after a PG degree in chemistry from Kerala University when he cracked UPSC exam for civil services. He had wide experience in e-governance initiatives, labour relations and industrial financing.

As the Principal Secretary, Information Technology Department, he played a significant role in expanding and strengthening the Akshaya network, which improved citizen’s access to govt services through technology. He also played a crucial role in the growth of Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, one of Asia’s largest information technology parks that has given direct employment to 80,000 people and supports around 2.3 lakh indirect jobs.