- Title: INDIA: Top court dismisses Novartis plea, medical activists relieved
- Date: 1st April 2013
- Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (APRIL 01, 2013) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANAGER, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF), LEENA MENGHANEY, SAYING: "It's a huge relief because we have more than 200,000 people living with HIV on treatment, 80 percent of them come from India, the drugs come from India, so we were really worried that a Novartis win would mean that less number of drugs would
- Embargoed: 16th April 2013 22:13
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: Business,Health,Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA7ACX1HVR1E75L3EFJ8KEH5MY6
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: India's Supreme Court dismissed Swiss drugmaker Novartis' attempt to win patent protection for its cancer drug Glivec on Monday (April 01) giving a serious blow to Western pharmaceutical firms who are increasingly focusing on India to drive sales, while activists campaigning for affordable drugs heaved a sigh of relief.
The decision also sets a benchmark for several intellectual property disputes in India, where many patented drugs are unaffordable for most of its 1.2 billion people, 40 percent of whom earn less than $1.25 a day.
India's domestic drugs market is the 14th largest globally, but with annual growth of 13-14 percent and the world's second biggest population, it has massive potential at a time when traditional developed markets have slowed down.
Advocate for Indian drug makers Ranbaxy and Cipla, who are trying to sell generic medicines in India, Pratibha M. Singh, said the top court was unequivocal in its dismissal of the Novartis plea.
"The Supreme Court judgment today in the Novartis case is that Novartis' appeal has been dismissed. Supreme Court says that whichever standard you adopt to interpret section 3d, Novartis' product Glivec does not constitute for patent in India," said Pratibha M. Singh.
The Supreme Court's landmark ruling is likely to affect several other companies and their branded medicines.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), a global organisation which campaigns for affordable drugs for people said that they were relieved by this decision as they now can procure medicine to distribute in developing countries.
"It's a huge relief because we have more than 200,000 people living with HIV on treatment, 80 percent of them come from India, the drugs come from India, so we were really worried that a Novartis win would mean that less number of drugs would be available for MSF procurement. So it is a big big relief for us that the drugs are now safe and secure and available to patients in developing countries," said MSF manager in New Delhi, Leena Menghaney.
Novartis has previously that said it needs legal certainty if it is to plan further investment in drug research in India.
The ruling is a boost for healthcare activists who want the government to make medicines cheaper in a country where patented drugs constitute under 10 percent of total drug sales.
Novartis has been fighting since 2006 to win a patent for an amended form of Glivec. In 2009 it took its challenge against a law that bans patents on newer but not radically different forms of known drugs to the Supreme Court.
India has refused protection for Glivec on the grounds that it is not a new medicine but an amended version of a known compound. By contrast, the newer form of Glivec has been patented in nearly 40 countries including the United States, Russia and China.
The Supreme Court decided that Glivec does not satisfy the "novelty" aspect, Pravin Anand, lawyer for Novartis, told reporters.
Shares in Novartis India, the Indian unit of the drugmaker, fell over 5 percent after the verdict. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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