Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11170

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Publication type: news

Murari S.
Indian court rejects Novartis patent challenge
Reuters 2007 Aug 6
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070806.windiadrugs0806/BNStory/International/home

Full text:

CHENNAI, INDIA – An Indian court rejected on Monday a challenge by Novartis to Indian law that denies patents for minor improvements to known drugs, and the Swiss drug giant said it was unlikely to appeal.

The court in the southern city of Chennai rejected the challenge, saying it had no jurisdiction on whether Indian patent laws complied with intellectual property rules set by the World Trade Organization, as Novartis had questioned.

“We disagree with this ruling, however we likely will not appeal to the Supreme Court,” a Novartis spokeswoman said by phone from Basel, Switzerland. “We await the full decision to better understand the court’s position.”

A statement from Novartis in India said that the ruling would “have long-term negative consequences for research and development into better medicines for patients in India and abroad.”

Novartis says the Indian patent system stifles innovation. Critics of Novartis say changes to the law would affect the supply of affordable anti-AIDS drugs from India, one of the biggest makers of generic drugs.

Novartis had gone to the Madras High Court in Chennai to challenge a law that blocks the patenting of minor improvements in known molecules.

“Novartis brought this case forward because it firmly believes this was the right thing to do for patients,” the statement said.

“Effective patent systems ensure incentives are in place that stimulate long-term research and development efforts critical for medical progress.”

In April, the same court had also ordered that another challenge by Novartis to a January decision that rejected its patent application for a cancer drug, Glivec, be referred to an appellate board.

That patent application was turned down because the drug was a new form of a known substance.

India is a key source of cheap generic medicines, and advocacy groups worry that millions of poor people could lose access to key drugs if Novartis succeeds in its challenge.

Aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said the court order confirmed exactly what it had been saying, that Indian courts were not the proper forum to raise this issue and Novartis should settle it at the WTO.

“We absolutely welcome this court order,” said Leena Menghaney of MSF in India, which has been campaigning against the Novartis challenge.

“It means patents will only be granted based on research and development and not just tinkering around with the old molecule to make a new form of an old drug.”

“It basically means fewer patents will be granted by the Indian patent office, and that means more affordable drugs can be produced by Indian manufacturers.”

Indian Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said in April that the government was “very concerned” that the challenge by Novartis could restrict the global supply of cheap anti-AIDS drugs.

India is home to the world’s third largest population living with HIV after South Africa and Nigeria, with an estimated 2.5 million infected people.